Traders at Ozomagana Building Materials Association, Onitsha, Anambra state, Monday cried out to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, to come to the rescue of their chairman, Chief Obiorah Okoro and two other traders, Nonso Paul and Emma Carpet, who were reportedly arrested in Onitsha by a team of policemen from the Legal department, Force headquarters Abuja, led by one Kabiru.

The aggrieved traders who through their spokesperson. Kenneth Okafor, lamented to newsmen the ordeal their chairman is passing through in the hands of the police, urged the IGP to investigate the legal department and also transfer the case from Force Legal Department to another department to curtail the alleged tarnishing of police image by the legal department.

Explaining further, the traders disclosed that, “After the arrest of the trio traders, they were arraigned at Asokoro Magistrate court on a trumped up charges of attempted murder but the Magistrate dismissed the suit saying the court has no jurisdiction since it was a suit from Anambra state.

“Instead of allowing the traders to go, the police legal department allegedly continued to detain them and because the case was dismissed they allegedly came up with another trumped up charges that can’t be sustantiated from a yet to be identified high court.

“These types of trumped up charges, illegal detention of suspects for three months, five months and sometimes one year ruined the disbanded SIU. Tunji Disu, is a no nonsense man, on assumption of duty he banned SIU and others. Then the SIU was taking orders from a retired IGPs to sanction suspects and perceived enemies,” they alleged.

“We are optimistic that IGP Disu will not allow any retired IGP to usurp his functions as was allegedly recorded in the era of his predecessor. There can’t be two IGPs in Nigeria. We know only of Tunji Disu and we will advise him to beware of retired IGPs who say they are retired but not tired. They still issue directives to officers and men at their own selfish interest ” the traders revealed,” they alleged.

“In this present case of threat to life nobody’s life is threatened, just a trumped up charge to intimidate our chairman using the police. When did legal department start to arrest suspects instead of charging or arraigning them in court. We have division of Labour in the police.

“Everybody knows that the bone of contention is plaza agreement at Ozomagana Building Materials Association Onitsha. Already the case and other related mattters are in courts, they are using police to intimidate us and divert attention. IGP please intervene,” they pleaded.