By Nimake Earland
Sellers of mobile phones and their accessories at the popular Wunti market in Bauchi metropolis on Tuesday protested their relocation to a new market by the Bauchi State government.
The usually boisterous market, popularly called Container, came to a standstill Tuesday morning when the traders prevented armed security personnel from forcefully evicting them from their present location.
Some of the traders who spoke with ThisNigeria said they resisted being relocated from the Container due to insecurity and underdevelopment of the new place provided for them by the government.
Though they acknowledged being issued with an eviction notice, they alleged that the notice does not come from the state government but from officials of their union, who they said connived with some government officials to eject them.
According to the protesting traders, the union officials, who said had been impeached were given huge amounts of money to develop the place but failed to do so.
They, therefore, appealed to the state government to give them more time to properly relocate to the new place.
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Reacting to the development, the state government said that the traders were given enough time to relocate but chose to ignore the government’s directive for them to relocate.
Speaking with ThisNigeria, the acting Director, Town Planning, in Bauchi State Urban and State development Board, Solomon Dauda, explained the congestion caused by the traders is worrisome and has altered the plan of the Wunti market.
He debunked the allegations that the state governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, is not aware of the relocation order, saying that there are documents to prove that the governor approved the relocation.
