They lamented that Justice P. A. C Umeadi of Awka High Court demolished their shops in spite of a court order.
The traders alleged that while the demolition was going on, some miscreants were busy looting their valuables, stressing that goods looted during the exercise include building materials, motor parts and assorted drinks worth millions of naira.
The spokesman of the traders, Mr. Samuel Okafor told journalists that they were taken unawares because the demolished Ekeson Park had been an object of litigation.
“We were surprised when we came to work this morning and met over 30 security men including policemen and soldiers fully armed and over 50 able-bodied Task Force members here with their bulldozer and pay loaders demolishing all the structures including the corporate office.
“They chased us away and even towed our buses to an unknown destination and cordoned off the entire place while hoodlums had a field day.
“Two of the hoodlums lost their lives here. One collapsed and one was hit by a lump of block while trying to carry away a carton of motor parts as they demolished our stores,” he said.
It was reliably gathered that more than 80 lock-up shops and the corporate office headquarters were demolished during the exercise.