Business activities in Lafia, the Nassarawa State capital was on Monday brought to a standstill as irate traders from the Lafia Central Market, protested plans by the State government to relocate them to a new site.
It was gathered that police officers and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, were on ground to forestall breakdown of law and order in the protest that lasted for several hours.
Spokesman for the protesters, Mr. Usman Shitu, while talking to newsmen said their action was as a result of the way the state government had handled the allocation of the new market. Shitu claimed that the shops in the new market have been allocated to politicians, who in turns gave them out at exorbitant prices.
Shitu said, “The rent on those shops at the new market, as charged by those politicians, was so exorbitant that an average trader cannot afford to pay, considering the low patronage of goods and services being experienced in the state.”
He alleged that the state government had allocated the shops in the newly built market to politicians at the rate of N50,000 per shop, but they are now giving them out at a rate of N100,000 per shop to them.
Reacting to the allegation by the protesters, Special Assistant to Governor Tanko Al-Makura on Media and Publicity, Mr. Tukur Ahmed, noted that the government was transparent in the allocation of the shops to the traders, adding that the aim was to decongest the overcrowded market in order to forestall any emergency.
The S.A. stated that the traders have been given three months ultimatum to relocate to the new market, but alleged that they gave the government some conditions to meet.
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