...Shop
owners must relocate to new market- Govt
Traders
in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, have lamented the sealing of their
shops in some parts of the city by taskforce teams working for the state
government.
The
traders, who were seen milling around their locked shops, while counting their
losses in an interview with journalists, said they were not informed of the
reason behind the action of the government; which they said came without a
prior notice.
According
to the traders, the sealing of shops were carried out by members of the Ebonyi
Neighbourhood Watch, who came in about six Hilux vans.
They
mentioned the affected areas to include: Gunning Road (near the Abakpa Main
market, whose former occupants have relocated to the new international market),
some parts of the popular Ogoja and Afikpo Roads, among other major streets
where businesses had been thriving.
Speaking
to journalists, one of the traders, Mathew Okorie, who owns a super-market,
said the action of the taskforce team members came as a surprise and that the
sealing of his shop came barely days after they had renewed their shop rents
for the year.
He
said: “On Friday last week, I was attending to a customer and before I knew it,
I saw people running helter-skelter, carrying things. I just managed to be able
to lock my shop. Every other shop around our area was locked down. We thought
that it was just the normal routine they do here, because it had happened in
the past; when they were relocating the Abakpa market.
“Since
the market was relocated in February, the first two months, they were coming
and harassing us every now and then. So, I was thinking it was a normal thing.
But on the following day, being Saturday, there was a total lockdown and we
didn’t sell. This morning again, being Monday, I came out as a businessman,
because that is the only source of income I have to feed myself, my family and
my aged parents, only for the taskforce teams to come and seal my shop again.
“I
pray the good people of Ebonyi State to hear my voice and intervene, because
where we are doing business is not part of the relocated market. All through
the period they were talking about market relocation, we were not carried
along. We were not asked to buy shops in the new international market, because
we are not part of Abakpa market. I am asking that the government should allow
us to continue our businesses, because we have paid all our IGRs to the state
and we are not inside the market.”
Another
trader, Mr. Nnaemeka Anayo, who deals on computer accessories, said that, all
through 2018 and 2019, they had been hearing of market relocation, but were
never part of it.
He
said they have not been given any reason for the sealing of traders’ shops, but
that they have been hearing rumours that the government wants them forced from
their current business premises into the new international market, decrying
that they were never part of the relocation plans ab initio, even as he described the situation as an abuse of their
rights; calling on the government to allow them carry out their businesses.
He
said: “In February, 2020, which was the last date for the relocation of the
traders, there were security agencies everywhere, who blocked the market and
people started packing out. While they were packing out, the security agents
came to where we are staying, which is about 100 metres from the market. They
only told us to close. They didn’t tell us that we are part of the market or
that we were also relocating. We closed and the relocation to the new market
took over a week. The market has been fully relocated and even the roofs have
been taken off.
“I
cannot fathom a reason why they sealed our shops with ribbons. I have tried to
lay my hands on the reason we have been asked to close and our shops sealed,
but I can’t find any. I am very disappointed because that is not how businesses
in other states are treated. It is clear the government has already achieved
its aim of relocating Abakpa market to the international market.”
Another
trader, Sunday Uchenna, who deals on phone accessories lamented that the
actions of the taskforce team has affected them morally, financially and
materially, calling on the state governor, Engr. David Umahi, to temper justice
with mercy and intervene in their pitiable situation as urged, “people are not
walking freely again due to fear”.
“We
were concerned with the global pandemic, but, upon that, the government boys
came again and we are being traumatised. We are appealing to the government to
call the taskforce to order, because if they are pushing everybody away from
the street, there is no way everybody can find their feet. In the recent NBS
report, Ebonyi is being rated poorly and with what is happening now, Ebonyi
will still go down the lane,” he said.
Similarly,
another trader, Mr. Franklin Nwafor, who deals on clothing materials, also
decried the development, saying that they were unhappy as some of them have
already paid up to two years rent for their shops in advance.
“I’m
not feeling okay with this development. I was very disappointed that a man can
come out of his house to open his shop and they have blocked the road and
people cannot have access to their shops. And when you ask questions, they say
it is from government. I don’t know the reason why they have not called us for
any meeting yet, to tell us why they don’t want us to stay here.
“When
I called one of them and asked him the reason for the action, he said the
government doesn’t want us to do businesses here again. But at least they
should have called us to inform us to prepare ourselves to face this kind of
situation because there is no town in Nigeria, even abroad, that you don’t see
street trading. I’m not feeling happy at all,” he said.
Govt
reacts
Reacting
on the situation in a telephone interview, the Special Adviser to the Ebonyi
State Government on Markets, Mr. Emmanuel Uzor, said the Governor had warned
the traders that he doesn’t want street trading and that it is either the
traders relocate to the international market, return the building back to the
residential areas or it will remain shut-down.
Reminded
that some of the traders claimed to have paid some years rent in the said
property in advance, the SA said it is their own loss and he won’t guarantee
that they are coming back any moment soon, even as he hinted that the
government intends to have a meeting with the landlords to tell them its plans.
He
added that the traders were also given notice, alongside the Abakpa traders,
who had moved into the international market, because they were part of them.
He
said: “That place (Gunning Road) was initially mapped as residential areas, but,
because of its proximity with the defunct Abakpa market, the landlords there,
unfortunately, turned their houses to commercial buildings.
“Now,
with the relocation of traders from the Abakpa market and the urban plan of the
state government, if we want to bring the area back to the residential area,
which it used to be because there is no more market there, that would warrant
them to continue to sell there.
“Losing
shop rent is the hazard of the business. But one thing is for sure, government
is not revoking the land. Government is not demolishing the buildings. Rather,
the landlords are expected to renovate their buildings to be in tune with the urban
renewal plans of the state government.
“For
now, the shops will remain sealed, while the traders move to the designated
commercial area, which is the international market. In the interim, they are
expected to renovate the buildings and turn it back to the residential
buildings they were before.
“It was even surprising to see some of them
still trading along that road, because we thought that, with the movement of
the traders to the international market, they should have moved with them. They
have every notice, they have even the court order. If they are serious, they
will show you all these things because we pasted it on their walls.”
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