A market in Song Local Government Council in Adamawa State where cows rustled by Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters are traded has been shut by the Nigeria Military.
Information available to the military has it that the market serves as trading hub for Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters and other criminal elements where cows and other livestock are traded.
The closure, however, didn’t go down well with some traders who accused security operatives of demanding for settlement which they refused, saying it was their refusal to part with funds that angered the military to close down the market.
According to a source, there is a traders association that oversees activities and trading in the market, claiming that security operatives have demanded for millions of naira which they declined, a development that angered the military before they shut down the market.
Reacting, the Brigade Commander, 23rd Armoured Brigade, Gibson Jalo Cantonment, Brigadier General Aminu Garba, called for calm, saying, the market was temporarily closed to check the activities of terrorists.
According to him, terrorists are sending rustled cows to the market to be sold which the military came to know through intelligence.
The District Head in the Local Government, Alhaji Ahmadu
Saidu denied reports that the market was closed because traders refused to offer bribe to the military.
He said: “I’m not aware of any attempt to extort the traders. The soldiers informed me that they shut down the market to investigate something related to terrorism,” he had said.
