For a few days now, one Mr. Aniagboso Michael Aka OZ has been busy levelling a series of accusations, including threats to life, against a renowned businessman and notable contractor, Chief Tochukwu Nzekwe, the Managing Director of Toshel Construction Company Ltd. He also alleged that the Chairman of Enugu North Local Government Area is making life miserable for him over a contractual disagreement between him, Mr. Aniagboso, and Mr. Nzekwe concerning Jesus Bu Eze Plaza, located at Coal Camp Spare Parts Market, Enugu.
Speaking with newsmen over the grave allegations when contacted, the Managing Director of Toshel Construction Company Ltd, Chief Tochukwu Nzekwe, said that Mr. Michael Aniagboso is playing the victim card in an attempt to tarnish the reputation he has built over the years and evade fulfilling his contractual obligations arising from a transaction he entered into with him.
He stated that Mr. Aniagboso, who as at then was a staff of Enugu North Local Government Area, used his company, Diamond M and B Construction, and engaged his company, Toshel Nigeria Limited, to execute a contract for the asphalting of the roads and car park in a plaza at Coal Camp Market, which he claimed was awarded to him by Enugu North Local Government Area under the regime of the previous Chairman, Hon. Emeka Onunze, as Mr. Aniagboso and his company lacked the capacity to undertake the project, contrary to what he presented to the council.
He stated that he undertook the project through his renowned construction company, Toshel Nigeria Limited, based on an agreement for payment and profit sharing in all revenue accrued from the plaza for the duration of the years of the contract with the council and did not fail in any part of the contractual terms.
Chief Nzekwe further stated that since the completion of over 80 percent of the project, Mr. Aniagboso has failed to meet his financial obligations, both in terms of paying the agreed fee and in terms of the profit sharing from the revenue derived from the plaza, despite collecting revenue from the plaza for over two years; adding that when he demanded payment, Mr. Aniagboso issued him a bounced cheque and subsequently embarked on a media campaign to tarnish his image.
He also posited that Mr. Aniagboso has employed different gimmicks to avoid meeting the contractual obligation, including jumping from one police station to another and filing frivolous and incompetent processes in court just to buy time while collecting revenue from the plaza.
According to him, “I was contacted by a business associate, Prince David (Prince of Nkerefi), to assist Mr. Aniagboso Michael Aka, who was a staff of the local government as at then, in executing a contract awarded to him by the leadership of Enugu North Local Government Area under the government of Emeka Onunze. Upon assessment, I discovered that he lacked the capacity to complete the project and was on the verge of breaching the contract, as the then chairman had completed the payment of the LGA’s percentage contribution to the project and wanted the project completed and commissioned before leaving office. We entered into a payment agreement and also reached an agreement for sharing revenue after the plaza became operational. However, Mr. Aniagboso failed to honour the agreement despite generating millions of naira in revenue. Whenever I raised concerns, he made promises he never fulfilled, to an extent that he issued me a cheque which eventually bounced. He has reported me to multiple police stations and other security agencies in an attempt to intimidate me. This is his usual pattern from what I later learnt about him.”
Mr. Tochukwu Nzekwe also stated that the matter was already before the High Court of Enugu and parties have been urged to maintain the status quo, but instead of obeying the court, Mr. Aniagboso resorted to hiring thugs to intimidate him and attack his workers.
“Each time I came to check the status of my equipment and work at the plaza, he would attack me with his boys. He has attacked me several times, the last one being in early December. Though we have made efforts to resolve this matter, the last effort being the one made by the Chairman of Enugu North LGA, Dr. Ibenaku Harford Onoh, who invited us to his office to settle the matter. My position remains that Mr. Aniagboso should face the shops he built while I face the park I built till the matter is determined by the court. But to my greatest surprise, the chairman of the LGA still allowed Mr. Aniagboso to continue to collect revenue from the park I built even after we agreed otherwise, an amount that totals ₦1.8m daily. This discovery led me to visit the plaza again in December to confirm the veracity, but on getting there, Mr. Aniagboso mobilised his thugs again to attack me. He then called the chairman of the local government to come to the plaza with neighbourhood people to further perpetuate the attack.”
“The chairman, on getting to the plaza, saw the palpable tension in the plaza as some friends of mine had also gathered in my defence to prevent any attack from the thugs mobilised by OZ, decided that the LGA would step into the management of the park in dispute pending the next court adjourned date in February 2026. He also informed Mr. OZ that he was free to continue managing his shops, as they were not the subject of any dispute, but that the park, which was the subject of dispute, would be under the care of the LGA, with all revenue accounted for by the team of the LGA and the nominees from myself and OZ. Dr. Onoh wisely asked Mr. Aniagboso to nominate one person who would work with his team, while I nominate one person who would work with the same team to manage the park and the revenue collected. Although I felt cheated by this decision, as the park was built by me and should have been handed to me as the shops were handed to Mr. Aniagboso, I decided to stay calm till the next adjourned date.”
“This Aniagboso, since December, has been making frantic efforts to continue the collections at the park. He has now resorted to tarnishing my image and also using sponsored write-ups to try to blackmail the chairman, whom he was until recently calling to give him neighbourhood watch members for protection. I am waiting to see if the Chairman will hand over that park to him again, as I will never accept that if he does it,” Mr. Nzekwe said.
Chief Nzekwe’s remarks have shed light on the underlying motives behind the sustained media onslaught against him and the local government council.
Commenting on the issue, a popular trader within the plaza and Coal Camp area, who identified himself as Ogbu Emmanuel, said that potential bloodshed was averted through the timely intervention of the council chairman following repeated altercations between Toshel’s workers and Mr. Aniagboso and his own workers.
He stated that appeals were made to the council for intervention, and that even traders in the market also proposed the LGA or state holding sway at the plaza as the most practical solution to ensure peace for traders to go about their businesses till the matter is resolved by the court.
He also stated that Mr. Aniagboso had very poor human relations, being confrontational and frequently quarrelsome, as he is always locked in quarrels with many people in the plaza, including the unions and their leadership.
Mr. Ogbu further recalled that on the date the chairman announced the LGA intervention, before the chairman arrived at the plaza, the two camps were already locked in a fight which led to a major head injury on one of the boys from the team of either Mr. Aniagboso or Mr. Nzekwe, which later resulted in the victim ending up in the hospital for days.
He noted that if not for the timely intervention of the council chairman, there could have been serious bloodbath at the plaza, particularly during the rush of the Christmas season.
“I was there when the chairman drove into the plaza on that day. On seeing the number of boys gathered at the park in support of either Mr. Aniagboso or Mr. Nzekwe, he must have realised that deciding to rule in favour of any of the groups would have led to a bloodbath, as the tempo was high and none of the two groups would have agreed. He then addressed the crowd and said that henceforth the two parties should hands off and allow the council to manage the park pending the next court date, which I hear is sometime in February. So, in my view, the chairman indeed saved lives and prevented bloodshed that day.”
When contacted, the Special Assistant to the Chairman of Enugu North Local Government Area on Revenue, Mr. Ndubisi Eze, who spoke on behalf of the chairman, as he has been the one handling the matter, said; the timely intervention of the council chairman and his team saved the situation.
He stated that for almost one year, there has been a series of reconciliatory moves on the matter, but upon reconciliation, Mr. Aniagboso would remit the LGA’s paltry share of the revenue to the LGA automated revenue account through a demand notice on the agreed sum and a payment receipt.
He noted that the plaza could have been a good source of revenue if not for the consistent trouble and sharp practices of Mr. Aniagboso.
“My boss even got tired of meeting with him and started asking him to deal with me on any issue he has regarding the plaza, but Mr. OZ would never listen. He would always go to my boss’s house early in the morning or come to the office almost every week to complain about one thing or the other, particularly regarding Toshel. His recent media rampage is because my boss refused to release the park to him after someone was attacked and injured there in December during one of Mr. Aniagboso’s altercations with Toshel.”
“On the other hand, we consistently received several reports from market leadership concerning violent confrontations that could have resulted in bloodshed. The council intervened by convening a roundtable meeting involving all parties to chart a path to peace. They were struggling over possession of the park. This led to repeated clashes. Their supporters fought on several occasions, with some sustaining injuries and others hospitalised. The most recent incident occurred in December, which prompted the council’s intervention pending the court’s determination, as the matter is already before a court of competent jurisdiction. The decision to take over the plaza’s management was taken transparently, and I am surprised by the current narrative Mr. Aniagboso is trying to push.”
However, several individuals interviewed separately at the park all confirmed that peace has been restored since the intervention of the local government council leadership and that traders are now going about their businesses without any fear of fights and quarrels like before.
They noted that prior to the intervention, clashes between Toshel’s workers and Mr. Aniagboso’s supporters occurred almost weekly.