Some armed hoodlums alleged to be assailants have abducted the Chairman of Mgbuka Amazu Market, Onitsha in Anambra State, Chief Enibe Francis, over circumstances related to Monday’s sit-at-home.

Witnesses in the market on Tuesday confirmed to newsmen that the incident happened on Monday shortly after the chairman had opened the market as directed by the market associations in the state.

It was gathered that the armed hoodlums beat him to a stupor after which they bundled him into a waiting vehicle and drove to an unknown destination and his whereabouts were still unknown.

The state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, had directed market leaders in the state to open their markets on Mondays by observing prayer sessions and cleaning the markets and drainages.

In the past few weeks, market executives in the state, led by the president of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, Chief Humphrey Anuna, have been moving around markets across the state on Mondays to monitor and ensure that markets comply with the directive of opening on Mondays. This is to counter the Monday sit-at-home exercise.

After the monitoring exercise about three weeks ago, Anuna publicized the sealing of no fewer than seven markets after they were found not to have complied with the directive.

Confirming the abduction of the market leader to pressmen, Anuna opined he had been briefed and the market executives were making frantic efforts to establish contact with him.

“He was said to have been whisked away when about five fully armed men stormed his shop while shooting indiscriminately into the air, beat him to stupor and dumped him into the boot of their waiting SUV vehicle and zoomed off.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, proved abortive as calls and messages to his telephone line were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.