Following the attack on the headquarters of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) last month by some hoodlums fingered to be working for a faction of the Board of the association, the court has fixed November 11 for the trial of those allegedly involved in the attack.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Secretary General of the association, Mr. Babatunde Mukaila said those who were apprehended have been taken to court, while stating that the court has fixed November 11 for hearing.
Recall that the Police recovered items such as: four AK47 rifles, two pistols and a bag of charms from the suspects, even as some members of the National Executive Committee members of the association have fingered a faction of the BoT as the sponsors of the hoodlums who were numbering over 40 who invaded and vandalized the association’s secretariat.
While in a chat with our correspondent, the ANLCA scribe disclosed that the hoodlums were found with ID cards of the association’s task force.
He alleged that the cards must have been issued by some criminal elements in the association, he said the criminals will open up and pin point whoever sponsored them to carry out the attack.
According to him "the criminals have been apprehended, they have been taken to court and some of them that have bail-able charges against them are still trying to perfect their bail conditions, and those that have unlawful possession against them are still there trying to perfect if there is any bail they can get so at this point the case has been adjourned to 11th of November, I wouldn't want to say much, but I believe those guys won’t have jump from the sky, they were fully kitted with association identity cards designated as western zone taskforce.
"I believe by the time the case commences, somebody somewhere must have given them the ID cards, somebody somewhere must have contracted them and mobilized them.
The Police have written to confirm the authenticity of the ID card and of course, we have denied that, ANLCA is the only trade association that is based on corporate company, nobody can claim to be a member of ANLCA without registered company, so that is the much I can say, whatever the BoT said, I believe by the time they get to court, if they are not the ones that sponsored them we will know, the guys will have to do finger pointing, their statement have been taken by the police", he said.
In his reaction, the coordinator western zone of ANLCA; Sir John Offobike denied issuing any identity card to the arrested hoodlums, while stating that the ID cards supposedly found on the hoodlums were brought by the ANLCA Secretary and was not found by the Police at the scene of the alleged crime.
He argued that, the ID cards could have been a set-up to frame him, he blamed the leadership failure on the part of the President and the secretary for the recent happenings in the association.
"The nomination of those people are from different chapters and not from me, even Mukaila (ANLCA Secretary) nominated, the VP nominated too, the members of the task force and were sworn in by the VP Farinto.
"I was able to provide logistics, I bought four okadas; chapters have their vehicles and we gave them terms of reference as regards what should be their work and what should not be their work.
"So when Mukaila brought the issue of the ID cards up at the station, I shut him up, it was Mukaila who brought the ID cards and not even the police, which anybody can use to set us up.
"If you see somebody who wears police uniform to commit a crime, would you hold IG responsible for such an act? even if it's a regular police man who does what he is not supposed to do, the law will take it up and he will be prosecuted and jailed for such conduct; talk less of myself who is a zonal coordinator and whatever I do its constitutional, so that is my reaction to the whole saga, but I condemn every act of destruction carried out at the secretariat, but this is also because of leadership failure", he said.
