About 5,000 traders who subscribed to the Wuye ultra-modern market, Abuja, said they would block the office of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Muhammad Bello, over the crisis arising from the allocation of the market to them.
The traders, who held a meeting on Friday in Abuja, accused the Federal Capital Development Authority of causing the allocation crisis, which they said had denied them access to the market.
The President, Abuja Market Women Association, Chief Felicia Sani, said it was time the traders took decisive measures that could facilitate their access to the market.
She explained that 5,605 traders paid for the shops at the market, but only 1,600 shops were built, thus causing a crisis in the allocation to the subscribers.
Sani stated that the traders had sometimes ago marched on the FCT Administration to express their displeasure over FCDA’s poor handling of the shop allocation, adding that they were assured that the issue would be resolved, but she said nothing was done.
The market women leader said four markets were inaugurated by the FCT Administration in 2002, adding that only Wuye had allocation issues, while Garki, Kaura and Mabuchi markets had been allocated to subscribers.
A trader, Yemisi Bamgbose, complained that each subscriber was at the risk of losing the N4.2m they paid for the shops, adding that the market developer, All Purpose Shelter Development Company, should either refund the traders or meet the FCDA for land allocation for a new market.
She said, “What we should be concerned about is our money; most of us borrowed the money we paid for the shops and we are at the risk of losing it, so the developer should pursue two options–refund those who are no longer interested in the market or meet the FCDA for land allocation and build a new market.”
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