By Our Correspondent
About 20 armed men, allegedly acting on the authority of the Anambra State Ministry of Environment, on Tuesday stormed a private motor park belonging to Goodness and Mercy Mass Transit Limited at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, in an attempt to take over its toilet facility.
The men, who reportedly arrived in six unmarked vehicles and were armed with AK-47 rifles, sticks, axes and other dangerous weapons, allegedly assaulted the company’s chairman, Mr Uchenna Egboluche, his personal assistant and other workers.
They also allegedly beat up and forcibly took away a female toilet operator, identified as Chikwe Ifeyinwa.
The toilet facility was subsequently locked up, while Ifeyinwa was allegedly detained at an office around the Head Bridge area of Onitsha for about five hours before being released at approximately 9pm.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Anambra State Ministry of Environment to the incident were unsuccessful as of press time.
However, a letter dated October 14, 2026, signed by the Commissioner for Environment, Dr Clem Aguyi, and obtained by our correspondent, had earlier announced the revocation of the management of 11 public toilet facilities across the state, including the toilet at Goodness and Mercy Mass Transit Limited Park, Upper Iweka.
The letter, titled “To Whom It May Concern: Notification of Revocation of Management of Public Toilet Facilities,” also appointed Messrs Callidimma Venture Nigeria Limited to provisionally recover and oversee the management of the affected facilities pending the constitution of a new management structure.
The ministry directed all affected persons and companies to immediately hand over the facilities and government properties in their custody.
However, the letter described the affected facilities as public toilets without specifically addressing the ownership status of the toilet at Goodness and Mercy Mass Transit Limited Park, which the company’s management insists is privately owned.
Narrating her experience, Ifeyinwa, a mother of four, said the armed men arrived at the facility and demanded to know whether she was the person managing the toilet.
She said that after confirming her identity, the men allegedly descended on her without explaining why they had come.
“As I was trying to know why they came, all I was hearing were Iseke, Iseke.
“They dragged me out and started beating me. As they were dragging me into their vehicle, my oga came and wanted to know what the problem was. As my oga was trying to find out the problem, they started beating him also. They tore my shirt and forcefully dragged me into their vehicle,” she said.
She added that the men neither informed her of any offence nor explained why she was being taken away.
“They came where I was working. They asked if I am the person working in the toilet. I said yes, and they pounced on me and dragged me into their vehicle without telling me anything,” she said.
Ifeyinwa also alleged that N130,000 in her pocket went missing during the incident, while her phone was thrown away and later recovered by another person.
She said the men first took her to the Head Bridge area, where they stopped at another motor park to pick up two other persons before conveying them to an office beneath the flyover.
“It was not a police station. There is a place they have offices. That was where they kept me, and they released me around 9pm. They picked me here around 4pm,” she said.
According to her, while in detention, she was asked to produce documents authorising her to operate the toilet facility.
“I told them they should ask my oga and not me. I am a mother of four children,” she added.
The General Manager of Goodness and Mercy Mass Transit Limited, Mr Vincent Okwuoma, said the park was privately owned by Egboluche and was not a government facility.
Okwuoma alleged that the armed men arrived shortly after 4pm, attacked the woman managing the toilet, tore her clothes and took her away to an unofficial detention facility.
He said the chairman, who came out to ascertain what was happening, was also assaulted, alongside other workers who attempted to intervene.
“When some workers wanted to intervene, they were beaten also. The armed men started cocking their guns.
“There was nothing we could do because they were carrying sophisticated weapons like AK-47 guns, sticks, axes and other dangerous weapons.
“We found out that one man called Iseke, who led the attack, said the Anambra State Ministry of Environment had directed him to take over the toilet in our park, a private park, not a government park,” he said.
Okwuoma argued that the toilet facility was among the requirements for obtaining approval from the Ministry of Transport to operate a motor park.
According to him, the company had provided the necessary facilities, including a toilet and terminal, as required by the relevant authorities before commencing operations.
He further alleged that the armed men did not present any formal notice or document to the company before attempting to take over the facility.
Also narrating his experience, a staff member of the company, Obi Akachukwu, said the attackers arrived in six unmarked vehicles and immediately asked for the location of the park’s toilet.
He said they proceeded to the facility, assaulted the woman managing it and attempted to take her away.
“When they were taking her away, our director came out and asked them what the problem was. Instead of explaining, they started pushing and beating him.
“When they pushed him, as his PA, I asked what they were doing. They pounced on me with a big stick, and the one identified as Iseke gave the order that they should beat everybody in the park. Then they started beating everybody mercilessly, and some ran away,” he said.
The October 14 letter from the Ministry of Environment listed 11 facilities whose management arrangements were revoked. They included Ogbunike Tollgate Toilet, Nwaagu Park, Port Harcourt Road Toilet, Obodoukwu Road Toilet, Ochanja Market Toilet, Head Bridge, Asaba Park Toilet, Garden Toilet, Upper Iweka, Ose Market Toilet, Main Market Toilet (Young Shall Grow Park), Goodness and Mercy Mass Transit Limited Terminal Park, Upper Iweka, and Obosi Park, Owerri Road.
The ministry stated that the revocation took immediate effect and appointed Callidimma Venture Nigeria Limited to provisionally manage the facilities to prevent disruption of services and ensure public sanitation, hygiene and public health safety.
In a separate letter titled “Letter of Approval for the Management, Administration and Maintenance of Public Toilets in Anambra State,” also signed by Aguyi and addressed to the Managing Director of Callidimma Venture Nigeria Limited, the ministry formally approved the company’s engagement as facility manager for public toilets in the state.
The letter, which referred to a proposal submitted by the company on October 6, 2026, said the approval followed a review of its antecedents, capacity and commitment to ensuring operational efficiency.
It specified that the company’s responsibilities would include the management, administration, cleaning, maintenance, staffing and monitoring of existing public toilets owned by the Anambra State Government under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment.
It also directed the company to ensure transparent operations, prevent revenue losses to the government and remit all internally generated revenue from the facilities directly into the consolidated account of the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service.
The company was further required to submit monthly reports detailing its activities, revenue, maintenance records and operational challenges to the ministry.
However, the approval letter specifically referred to public toilets owned by the Anambra State Government and did not expressly extend the ministry’s authorisation to privately owned toilet facilities.
A lawyer, Mike Udeagha, said although the government had the authority to regulate and supervise the operations of public and private motor parks, it could not take ownership of or directly assume the management of facilities belonging to private park operators.
According to him, the toilet facility in question belonged to the owner of the private park, and the government could not authorise another company to take over an asset it did not own.
He also drew attention to the ministry’s October 14 revocation notice and its subsequent approval letter, arguing that both documents referred to public toilets owned by the Anambra State Government and did not expressly establish a basis for taking over privately owned facilities.
The controversy has raised questions about the ownership status of the affected toilet facility and the extent of the Ministry of Environment’s authority to enforce its revocation directive against a privately owned motor park.
