One dies, many injured in Onitsha motor park clash

    
One person was reportedly killed in Onitsha on Thursday when opposing groups of motor park touts clashed at the Aba Central Motor Park at the Upper Iweka area of Onitsha.
Many other people were also said to have been injured in the clash, which held traffic along the busy area for several hours.
The feuding groups were identified as the notorious Ndi Ukwu Aziza and Ndi Ukwuotosi.
They had engaged each other, it was further gathered, over who controls the park.
Though the police denied that there was a fatality in the clash, one of the victims, who said he was a loader at the park, Mr. Chinedu Anyigor from Ebonyi State, said the fight broke out after one Ifeanyi Okafor was removed as the park manager.
 He said, “What happened was that, Mr. Ifeanyi Okafor, who was given the park by the state government to manage, sought for the help of Ogbaru youths. They came into the park and described themselves as Ndi Ukwu Aziza.
“They were in charge of collecting revenue from the park but when their activities became unbearable, they were asked to leave and another group, Ndi Ukwu Otosi, came in to take over the job.
“So the first group, who were sacked, stormed the park yesterday and started unleashing mayhem on the people and in the process, they shot one person dead.”
Lamenting the heavy loss of property during the clash, Anyigor called on the security agencies and the Anambra State Government to intervene in the matter to restore law and order to the parks.
The Police Area Commander in Onitsha, Mr. Benjamin Wordu, confirmed the incident, saying the command immediately deployed men in the area to restore peace and order.