ONITSHA, Anambra — Traders at the Onitsha Beer Dealers Market, also known as Nwugo Beer Market, have appealed to the Anambra State Government to intervene in an alleged dispute over ownership and revenue collection at the market.
The traders made the appeal during a peaceful protest in Onitsha, where they alleged harassment, intimidation and extortion by a businessman, Ifeanyi Franklin Okeke, whom they accused of claiming ownership of the market and attempting to take control of its operations.
The allegations could not be independently verified, and efforts to reach Okeke for his response were unsuccessful.
Speaking during the protest, Chief Augustus Nnabuife said the traders had occupied the market for decades, adding that the land was acquired from the Anambra State Government in 1988.
He said the traders obtained receipts and Certificates of Occupancy, developed the market and moved into it in 1998 after its commissioning by the then Military Administrator of Anambra State, Wing Commander Emmanuel Uwakwe Ukaegbu.
Nnabuife alleged that the dispute began in August when Okeke, accompanied by his lawyer, entered the market and claimed that he had acquired it from the government.
He further alleged that Okeke subsequently began collecting ₦1,000 daily from more than 1,000 shops, using security personnel, changed the market’s name to Ihioma Beer Market and proposed a monthly security levy of ₦20,000, compared with the ₦1,200 previously paid by traders.
He also alleged that on July 19, 2026, traders found the market locked and armed men stationed around the premises, with a demand that the new levy be paid before reopening.
Two traders, Nze Donatus Njesi and Mrs Cordelia Edimobi, said the traders had previously petitioned the state government and staged a protest at Government House, Awka, but appealed for further intervention by Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
Two other traders, Iwuchukwu Oguguo and Ibe Mmaduabuchi, alleged that they were arrested after responding to the ownership dispute and subsequently spent seven weeks in custody before being granted bail.
They said their case remained before the court. The traders urged the state government to investigate the competing ownership claims, protect their businesses and prevent further confrontation.
Available public records confirm that Nwugo Market, also known as Beer Market, is an established market in Onitsha South, and that the Anambra State Government previously included it among markets whose caretaker leaderships were dissolved and reconstituted as part of its market-reform programme.
