Traders protest lock up of shops at Wuye market
Traders on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest over alleged continued lock down of their shops at the Wuye UltraModern Market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The traders, who numbered over 1,000 protested under the Association of Wuye Modern Market Allotees (AWUMMA), displaying different placards and accusing the developers of the market of denying them of their allotments.
A protester, Mrs Uche Uzodimma, said though the traders paid to acquire shops at the market, they have been deprived from having access to them.
She said they were the original allottees, and were given original papers to the shops, but have been frustrated by the continued lock up of the market.
Another protester, Abdullahi Shuaibu, also said most of the traders paid for shops at the market since 2008, and that they were subsequently presented with the keys to their shops after the market project was completed in 2013.
He lamented however that since then most of the allottees have not had access to the shops they paid for.
A member of the Wuye market enforcement committee, Michael Ndu, said what is happening was outright disregard for the rule of law, deprivation, oppression, intimidation, corruption and humiliation of the masses.
“After several appeals, the developer did not listen to us and we went to court and a landmark judgment was delivered on April 20th 2015 for the shops to be given to us but we were denied access to the market,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with City News during the protest, a lawyer to the developer, Barrister Lekan Ogunleye, said the defendant has gone to court to seek for clarification on a court judgment of April 20, 2015, which directed plaintiffs to pay a statutory or rent fee.