Taskforce official sold goods seized from me to another trader – Scrap dealer

A trader, Anas Siluman, has alleged that an official of the task force of the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area council, who seized his wares, later sold the items to a fellow trader.
Siluman, who described the activities of the task force officials in the area as “indiscriminate and cruel,” said they had, on many occasions, caused the death of some traders due to their over-zealous approach in enforcing the orders of the council.
He said the actions of the task force officers had become worrisome, calling on the relevant authorities to check their excesses.
Narrating his experience, Siluman said, “I was coming from where I just went to buy wares (scraps), which my boss sent me, but when the taskforce officials saw me, they chased me and seized the wares. I don’t really know why they don’t like to see us with scraps. But as far as I am concerned, there is no law that says we should not trade in it.
“I left my truck with the goods inside and fled. After some time, I returned to the spot where I left my truck, but my truck was nowhere to be found. I was wondering where it could have been, and all of a sudden, as I was busy searching around the area, I saw another scrap trader pushing a truck towards me.
“After telling him the goods were mine, I asked him who gave them to him. He said a few minutes ago, someone sold them to him. I told him to take me to that person, and he did. On getting to the seller, I discovered it was the same taskforce officer, who earlier gave me a hot chase while trying to arrest me. He said without apologies, that he was the one who sold my truck and the goods, and that there was nothing I or anybody could do about it.”
Siluma wondered why the officer impounded his own goods and sold same to a fellow trader.
“I am surprised and I don’t understand if it is wrong to trade in scraps. And if it is wrong, why did he have to sell it to another trader? And if it is because I was pushing the truck on the road, the other guy also pushed it on the same route. This is just wickedness,” he said.
Confirming the incident, Siluma’s boss, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, who condemned the action said, “This is very bad. What the officer did was wrong and unacceptable. I think he just wanted to take advantage of my boy.
“If at all you are impounding someone’s goods, must you sell it to another? Is that
right?”
Speaking on the activities of the task force officials in the area, a trader, Mrs. Uche Udofia, who deals in fabrics, described the actions of the taskforce officials as tantamount to gross abuse of rights of traders in the community.