Ayuba Mafi
Small scale business owners at the Bauchi central market have kicked against vacation order handed them by the state government which cited traffic congestion caused on the roads by their activities.
Our correspondent gathered that the state government had three months ago allocated new plots to the traders at Muda Lawal market and asked them to relocate.
But the traders have lamented that the deadline given them was too short, calling on the government to extend it.
Leader of the amalgamated small scale traders, Alhaji Mu’azu Chiroma who led the protest to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Bauchi over the Said the affected business men could not afford to build the shops in the new location within the stipulated period.
He pleaded with the state governor, Bala Mohammed to extend the period of the vacation, give them loans to build new shops or build it for them so they would pay in installments.
“We were given three months to build the shops at the new location but the notice is too short. We cannot build them in the deadline because we are small scale traders. We appealed for loans to bulid the new shops or the government on compassionate ground should build for us”. He said.
When contacted, the chairman of the taskforce on the market who doubles as the chairman Bauchi state Road Transport Agency (BAROTA), Air Commodore Tijjani Baba Gamawa (Rtd) insisted that government would not extend the deadline, urging the affected traders to vacate the area in the next 48 hours.
According to him, the traders who sell commodities near roads outside the market have been causing serious traffic difficulties around the area, hence the decision of the government to evict them for safety of road users and the traders alike.
