A commissioner in Abia State yesterday, at the Oil Beach Market, Umuopara, Umuahia, ordered the arrest of the secretary of the market union, Mrs. Mercy Iwuchukwu.
It was gathered that some traders in the market had lined up, to be registered by a rival party in the state, when the commissioner, who got wind of the exercise, arrived the market in company of an official of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Umuahia South and ordered security agents to arrest the woman.
The commissioner was said to be livid that Mrs. Iwuchukwu allowed her members to be registered by the rival political party, instead of the ruling party, an action perceived as a negation of why they were appointed.
The market union’s secretary was later whisked away to the commissioner’s office by the security agents, where she was still being detained as at the time of filing the report.
When contacted on phone, the Chairman of the Oil Beach Market Traders Association, Umuopara, Morgan Ibe Chimaroke, confirmed the arrest of his secretary.
He said: “I was doing something in the town and as such, I could not go to the market on time. After a while, my mobile phone rang and the message I got was that my secretary, Mrs. Iwuchukwu, had been arrested.
“I rushed to the market immediately and was told that a serving commissioner in the state with some officials of the ruling party in Umuahia South came and ordered her arrest, questioning why she should allow some traders in the market to be registered by a rival political party.”
He appealed to the authorities in the state to release the woman, who, as the secretary of the union, had no power to choose political party for traders in the market.

Party registration: Abia commissioner orders arrest of market union leader