Some traders in Niger have decried the closure of the roadside market located in Madalla, along Abuja/Kaduna expressway, as ordered Gov. Umaru Bago.
The traders conveyed their displeasure in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Madalla.
NAN reports that the closure followed reports of frequent accidents on the road that always led to loss of lives.
Policemen were seen chasing marketers and preventing them from displaying their wares for business.
Mr Solomon Eze, a trader, told NAN that the notice given to them was short and too sudden for government to chase the traders away.
‘I came to the market to display my okrika (thrift) for sale only to see Police officers chasing people around,’ he said.
Another trader, who preferred to be identified as Mama Amina, decried the decision by the government to relocate them to where she described as a ‘bushy surrounding.”
She said that the new place (market) was not conducive and spacious enough for the traders; hence the reluctan
ce to relocate from the express market.
‘In actual sense, government is supposed to build a modern market within this area, knowing quite well that the population is growing and the environment is attracting more people everyday.
‘The new place that government is asking us to go needed to be cleared, ‘ Amina added.
Meanwhile, Hajiya Maijidda Nuhu, a trader on food stuff, said she was delighted over the decision by the governor to close the market, saying it was a welcome idea.
‘The decision is a timely intervention by the government; because the space is now too small for the traders that were growing in number by the day.
‘The traders have taken over the roads; making it difficult for free movement of vehicles with leads to frequent accidents.
‘It has always been a terrible situation whenever drivers loss control within the market.
‘We have had severe cases of accident and we should be happy for the government’s decision to relocate us from here, ‘she said.
Nuhu said she lost her husband 20 years ag
o as a result of an accident that occurred within the market.
‘I would have also lost my life alongside my husband if not for God.
‘As you can see, my face and hand are with scars; this is an unforgettable scar for me; it always reminded me of my late husband.
‘I am happy with the government for relocating the market to a safer place; the marketers don’t understand that the government’s decision is for our own good.
‘More so, the government has provided a place which is a better space behind, just few steps away from here,’ she added.
Nuhu made an appeal to the state government to ensure that the new location was developed to be standard and conducive enough for the traders.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria