Enugu Government Sacks Elected Orba Market Leaders Despite Court Order, Installs Caretaker Committee

The affected market leadership is headed by Brendan Ugwu, who was elected chairman of OMMATA on September 22, 2023, for a four-year tenure.

There is growing tension in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State after the state government dissolved the elected leadership of the Orba Modern Market Amalgamated Traders Association (OMMATA) and constituted a caretaker committee despite a subsisting High Court judgment restraining it from taking such action.

The latest development has sparked fresh controversy over the management of the market, with the government's action appearing to contradict an earlier court ruling which declared a previous dissolution of the traders' executive illegal, unconstitutional and null and void.

The affected market leadership is headed by Brendan Ugwu, who was elected chairman of OMMATA on September 22, 2023, for a four-year tenure.

Justice Comfort Chinyere Ani of the Enugu State High Court sitting in Obollo Afor had, in a judgment delivered on May 13, 2025, had held that the Enugu State Government lacked the legal authority to dissolve the elected executive of the traders' association or appoint a caretaker committee to administer the market.