There was pandemonium, yesterday, at a mini motor park near the New Auto Spare Parts Market, Nkpor and the flyover on the Enugu/Onitsha at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, following heavy shootings.

The shootings, which injured five persons, according to eyewitnesses, started at 1p.m., when some security operatives wearing masks stormed the area and attempted to eject the people of Amafor community, who claim to be owners of the land, where the motor parks were cited, which are generating revenue for the community and Anambra State government.

The shooting, injuries and forceful ejection of the land owners and their revenue agents later gave rise to a peaceful protest by the villagers, who carried placards with various inscriptions.

Chairman of Amafor village, Nkpor, Emmanuel Idemili, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said the Federal Ministry of Works gave the community an authority to manage the two parks and collect revenue for the community and the state government, which they have done perfectly until yesterday, when the masked security operatives stormed the parks at the alleged instigation of the former Chairman of Idemili North Local Government Transition Committee, who he said is also an indigene of Nkpor but not from Amafor village, which owns the land where the parks are located.

Idemili who contended that the security operatives succeeded in chasing away his men from the duty posts with their heavy shootings, said: “We have been in charge of the parks, we got our permissions from the state government to generate revenue from the parks for the state government but what we saw today (yesterday) is very strange to us.

“Just this morning, I was at Awka on official assignment, when our men who were working at the parks called me and told me that masked security operatives stormed the parks under the flyover bridge and started shooting indiscriminately, ordering them to vacate the place and they took to their heels.

“The shootings and attack from the security men may have come from the former transition chairman of Idemili North Local Government Area Caretaker Committee Chairman, because when he was the transition Committee chairman, he sacked us from the parks, telling us that the parks were owned and controlled by the state government and not the Amafor community.

Meanwhile, reacting, Asha Nnabuufe, whom Idemili accused of instigating their forceful ejection, denied involvement in the attack and sack of Amafor officials at the parks, saying the sack may have come from the state government in collaboration with ANSIPPA as the parks were owned and controlled by the state government.

However, when contacted, Executive Director of ANSIPPA, Mark Okoye confirmed that it was the state government that sacked them not ANSIPPA.

Also when contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said he had not been briefed about the incident.