Buni re-opens Gaidam market, relaxes curfew by 4 hours

Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni yesterday announced the reopening of Gaidam town’s market closed down by the military over 10 months ago due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

The governor also announced that the 12-hour curfew in the town had been relaxed by four hours from 600pm to 10pm daily.

Buni, who visited Gaidam yesterday and held a town hall meeting with the people and met with the Emir of Ngazagamo, Alhaji Tijjani Ibn Saleh, said the reopening of the market became necessary as its closure had caused untold hardship for many people who depend on it for their livelihood.

He said the market’s closure could cause more security challenges “when you have youths who otherwise depend on the market for their livelihood roaming the streets and doing nothing.”

“I’ve pledged on your behalf that security is and will remain everybody’s business. Everyone in Gaidam and environs will chip in and contribute to security by cooperating with the security agents and by promptly reporting any suspicious persons or activity to the security agents”, he said.

Buni said he had permitted the Gaidam Local Government Council to recruit 150 more vigilantes who would work, especially on Gaidam Market Days, to ensure that market activities are conducted peacefully and any suspicious persons apprehended.

The Emir of Ngazargamo had earlier told the governor that insecurity and the closure of the market had plunged people into serious economic difficulty. “More than 80 percent of the people here are youths who have no jobs other than depending on the market. Its closure has rendered them idle”, he said.

The emir said that the Gaidam market is over 100 years old and that every Wednesday, hundreds of trucks transport cattle and farm produce from the town to other parts of the country, underscoring its economic significance.