The Forum of Wuye Market’ Shop Owners, has protested the continuous closure of Wuye Ultra-Modern Market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

 

Chairperson of the forum, Mr Julian Ozoemena, condemned the perpetual closure of the market during the protest staged on Tuesday at the entrance of the market.

 

The FCT authority had ordered the closure of the market over controversy relating to alleged double allocation of shops in the market.

 

Addressing newsmen, Ozoemena said members of the forum were the rightful and certified owners of the shops in the market.

 

He said that the members, numbering over 1, 200 were allocated the shops since 2007 and they paid money ranging from N3 million to N25 million, depending on the sizes of the shop.

 

He said that it was unfair that they could no longer carry out their legitimate businesses at the market.

 

The legal adviser to the forum, Mr Shaibu Aruwa, told newsmen that the other group laying claim to the shops in the market were Bakassi market traders.

 

Aruwa said: “these Bakassi market traders who also had allocations at that time the shops were allocated refused to pay for them.

 

“They have now come back laying claim to the shops and causing the lingering problem.

 

“They had gone to court and obtained judgment.

 

“The FCDA in compliance with the Court judgment asked them to come forward with their documents for verification in order to process their claims but they refused.

 

“Instead, they have resorted to disrupting activities at the market for over a month now.’’

 

In his reaction, Mr Micheal Ndu, a member of Bakassi market traders, said the group secured court order mandating the FCT to allocate the shops to them.

 

“We are protesting against injustice of the masses; we have a valid court judgment from the Federal High Court on 29th of April, 2015 which has not been appealed or set aside.

 

“We have valid allocations which are perpetual but the developer went to obtain C of O on the land that we were given allocation to build.

 

“We thought that it was the FCDA that was building the shops but the court has given us back the shops,’’ Ndu said.

 

Mrs Success Agboola, an official of Abuja Investment Company Limited, told newsmen that the FCT authorities had waded in to resolve the controversy.

 

Agboola said that the FCT administration had directed all aggrieved persons who had been given allocations of shops at the market to present their documents for verification as part of the resolution process.

 

 

 

(NAN)