Shops demolition: Pandemonium as court orders El-Rufai to pay compensation
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. Photo: TWITTER/GOVKADUNA
There was pandemonium in Kaduna on Sunday, as Police dispersed traders who trooped out to the streets to jubilate over court ruling ordering Governor Nasir El-Rufai to pay compensations for demolishing their shops and market in the city.
The tension escalated on Sunday evening when armed police stormed Kasuwan Barci and Tudun Wada area of Kaduna metropolis, shooting tear gas and live bullets in the air, as shop owners trooped to the streets, demanding Governor El-rufai to obey court order by paying them compensation over their demolished shops and markets.
The jubilation followed an order of Kaduna State High Court, asking the state government to reinstate each of the shop owners in Kasuwan Barci back into the market.
The affected shop owners called on the government to respect the rule of law by obeying the court order. However, as the traders were set to embark on a peaceful protest, armed policemen stormed the venue and told them that, “there is an order from above to stop the protest”.
Consequently, some officers and men of the Police force who were at the scene of the protest, immediately stopped the leaders from addressing their members and newsmen.
The Police were also seen pulling down all the canopies arranged for the event along Kasuwan Barci axis of Dutsima road in Tudun Wada.
This later led to serious confrontation with the sister security agency; the Kaduna State Vigilante Service (KADVIS), which had earlier given security, cover to the traders at the venue.
The armed policemen resorted to tear gassing the crowd and firing live bullets in the air to disperse them, in a show of superiority. But a few hours later, the shop owners regrouped at another location and addressed newsmen.
Recall that the court had on September 28, 2022, delivered judgment in favour of the plaintiffs (shop owners) and ordered Kaduna State government to adequately compensate them .
The state government had taken over the market and subsequently demolished the old structure sometime in March 2020, while about 4,600 shop owners were affected. All the market locations in the state were also affected by the demolition.
Dissatisfied with the action of the state government, traders of Kasuwan Barci and Raga markets all within the Kaduna metropolis, approached the court to interpret the extent of powers of the state government over the markets.
In his judgment. Justice Edward Andow declared that the Kaduna State government lacks the constitutional powers to unilaterally takeover Kasuwan Barci market in the way and manner it did. It ordered the government to pay compensations.
In jubilation of the court order, the shop owners flooded the street of Kaduna State at the weekend, urging the government not to deny them their right as pronounced by the court.
Addressing newsmen, Chairman of the shop owners, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano Kaya-kaya, explained that after receiving the vacation notice, the shop owners sought an audience with the state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, which was granted, but they could not reach any agreement.
He explained that the shop owners 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 the government would rebuild the shops since the Governor promised returning the shops to the real owners.
He said: “Our expectations was that, since government 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 the Kaduna State Government will respect this judgment by reinstating us back into the market and compensate us accordingly, because many shop owners have died, some are sick, while a few have relocated to other towns due to the demolition.”
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