Police disrupt marketers, traders protesting against El-Rufai in Kaduna

Traders and marketers in the Kasuwa Barci market, Tudun Wada area of Kaduna State on Monday protested against the State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai for disobeying Court order asking to compensate them over demolished shops in the market.

The protest, our correspondent reports was a call on governor El-Rufai to obey Court order and pay them compensations.

But a detachment of Police personnel disrupted the peaceful protest claiming that it was an order from above.

It is really that Kaduna State High Court had ordered the state government that each of the shop owners in Kasuwan Barci be reinstated back to the market.

However, the protest organised by the traders to drive home their demand was attacked by a detachment of police who allegedly told the traders that there was an order from above to stop the protest.

“Some officers and men of the Police force who were at the scene of the protest immediately dispersed the shop owners from addressing their members and the journalists .

“The Police pulled down all the canopies arranged for the event along Kasuwan Barci axis of Dutsima road, Tudun Wada,” an eye witness told journalists.

“This led to a clash with operatives of the Kaduna State Vigilante Service (KADVIS), who had earlier given security cover to the traders.The police resorted to teargassing the crowd in a show of superiority, but few hours later, the shop owners regrouped and addressed the press,” he said.

It may be recalled that the court had on the 28th September, 2022 given judgement in favour of the Plaintiffs (shop owners), instructing the Kaduna state government that the shop owners be adequately compensated.

The state government had taken over the market and subsequently demolished the old structure of the market sometimes in March, 2020, while about 4,600 shop owners were affected.

The traders of the Kasuwan Barci and Raga markets all within the Kaduna metropolis being dissatisfied by the action of the state government approached the court to interpret the extent of the powers of the state government over the markets.

However, the presiding judge, Justice A. Edward Andow, in his judgement said that the Kaduna state government lacks the constitutional powers to unilaterally takeover the Kasuwan Barci market in the way and manner it did.

“The Kaduna State government is in breach of the constitutional provision vesting the creation and operation of markets in the local govts by usurping and arrogating to itself the clear powers and function of the local government,” the court ruling stated.

Chairman of the shop owners, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano Kaya-kaya, said that after receiving the vacation notice, the shop owners sought audience with the state Governor which was granted but, they could not reach any agreement

He said they pleaded with the Governor to either allow them build the shops themselves by using the authorized government building plan or give them another space to relocate, pending when government would rebuild the shops since the Governor promised returning the shops to the real owners, but the state government refused the proposal of the shop owners which made them sought for redress in court.

“As shop owners, up until the Kasuwan bacci market was demolished, we were up to date with revenue payment. Kasuwan bacci is a market that is fully managed by shop owners because all the shops in the market were built by individuals unlike the other markets like; Abubakar Gumi and Veterinary markets that were built and leased out by the state government.”

“Our expectation of government was that, since she is aware that we built our shops ourselves on the land given to us by government, they should have either relocated the market or have adequately compensated us but instead, they ignored us and went ahead to demolish the shops”.

“It is our prayer that Kaduna state government will respect this judgement by reinstating us back into the market and compensate us accordingly especially because, many shop owners have died, some are sick, while a few have relocated to other towns due to the demolition,” Alhaji Kaya-kaya has said.

Kaduna State high court presided over by Justice Edward Andow has asked the state Governor, Nasir El-rufai, to reinstate 4,600 shop owners back to Kasuwar barci and pay them compensation for demolishing their shops in 2017.

The plaintiffs had filed a suit before the High Court on May 9, 2017, when the state government gave 10 days’ notice to vacate their shops.

But not satisfied by the action of the state government, the traders approached the courts to interpret the extent of the powers of the state government over the markets

Backed by proofs of ownership the aggrieved traders also want the court to interpret the action of the state government who hurriedly despite an injunction order for parties to maintain the status quo, issued an obscure quit notice to the occupants of the market and went ahead to demolish their shops.

In his ruling, Justice Edward Andow ruled that the Kaduna State government breached the constitutional provision vesting the creation and operation of markets in the local governments by usurping and arrogating to itself the clear powers and function of the local governments.

Justice Andow insisted that the state government lacks the powers to do what it did,. “The state government should immediately reinstate the 4,600 shop owners back to their shops and pay adequate compensation to them for their losses,” he said.