Onitsha market leaders set to tackle menace of touts

As commercial activities intensify for the approaching Christmas season, electronics dealers in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State, under the aegis of Electronics Dealers Association (EDA), have vowed to rid the market of the menace of urchins and other undesirable elements terrorising customers to fleece them of their hard earned money.Speaking to newsmen in Onitsha after a customer identified as Okeke, was brutalised in the market by one of the hustlers who sold a dummy refrigerator to him, the association's acting chairman, Mr Phillip Iheanacho, said that the activities of hustlers had been prohibited in the market, adding that efforts were on to ensure that people without shops and other legitimate businesses within the market were sent parking.He assured that customers coming to the market from far and near irrespective of their religion and ethnicity would not be intimidated or deceived to buy goods that were not their choice, maintaining that adequate security was in place to ensure that customers go about doing their business without molestation.As a further demonstration of the union's commitment to the protection of customers in the market, the victim was given back a brand new refrigerator of his choice and further told to return it if it showed signs of malfunctioning before the expiration of the guarantee.Relieving his ordeal earlier, the victim who was manhandled by a bunch of urchins who roamed the market, said that he came all the way from Owerri to the market, lamenting that the experience left him with a bad impression of the market.He, however, commended the swiftness of the leaders of the market in arresting the situation and helping him recover his goods, 'I was almost killed, at a time I thought I had lost my money, but when the market leaders summoned me to their office and apologized to me and gave me another refrigerator, I just could not believe it'.It will be recalled that sometime ago there was a violent clash between the urchins and policemen which left one of the hoodlums dead, several others wounded and goods worth several millions of naira destroyed in the market when policemen attempted to arrest one of them.
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