Police Arrests ANLCA Vice President, Nat.Sec As Western Zone Chieftain Was Attacked

By ZION Olalekan

The Vice President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and it’s General Secretary, Babatunde Mukhaila were reportedly arrested for questioning by the Homicide Detectives from the Police Criminal Investigations Department at Alagbon, Lagos over an attack on the Secretary of the Western Zone, Mr Bayo Oyekangun.

Sources within the association confirmed to our correspondent yesterday that Mr Oyekangun was attacked in his house on the day of western zone election that was held recently in an attempt to kill him.

A police officer in charge of the case reportedly confirmed that the two ANLCA executive officers were actually arrested for questioning.

They were believed to have been invited for questioning over the physical attack and serious bodily injuries by yet unknown people on the person of the Western Zone Secretary.

The Chief of Staff to Honourable ‘Tony Nwabunike , ANLCA’s National President, Mr Eniola Igbaraola also confirmed that Police actually arrested the two officers but alleged that they were immediately granted bail after questioning.

Igbaraola however vehemently protested the arrest of the Association’s two key officers on the grounds that they knew nothing of the attack on the Zonal Secretary while they were nowhere near where he was attacked, questioning why the Police would be arresting officers who knew nothing about an incident that happened since last year.

However text message sent and calls made to the phones of the National Secretary by the Marineand Economy to get his reaction over the matter were not returned as the time of going to Press. But calls made to the line of Mr Farinto did not go through.

It will be recalled that Western Zone through the support of the Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha led faction of the BOT had inaugurated its own ASECO , the body coordinating elections in the Association and organised its own polls to choose officers for some of its chapters to protest the alleged recognition of the Chief Henry Njoku’s faction of the BOT over that of Mustapha by the Association’s National President.

However the Association’s President had persistently said that he has for once not recognized or endorsed Chief Njoku’s faction of the BOT but that he is out for peace to reign in the Association .

The Association has however variously described the elections organised by the Western Zone as illegal , null and void for the fact that it was not in line with its constitution and has thus refused to recognize the polls.

The elections conducted by the Western Zone took place simultaneously with the National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting of the Association which held in Abuja and which some officers of the Zone boycotted in sympathy with the Alhaji Mustapha’s faction of the BOT.

The NEC had also suspended the Western Zone Chapters Chairmen who refused to attend the Meeting without any genuine excuse and appointed administrators to replace them while it also suspended the Association’s National Treasurer and the National Publicity Secretary.