At last, the popular Thursday Weekly Madalla Market in Suleja local government has been shut and demolished by the authorities in Niger State.
The market used to cause gridlock on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
The authorities said the affected traders would be evacuated to a new location tentatively.
LEADERSHIP reports that the governor of Niger State Mohammed Umaru Bago had promised to evacuate the market at the inception of his administration in line with his Urban Renewal under the New Niger Agenda for free flow of traffic.
Consequently, Suleja local government area that managed the market keyed in and effect the demolition over the week hence the market that usually take place every Thursday did not take place yesterday.
The LG chairman, Alhaji Isyaku Bawa Naibi told LEADERSHIP in an interview that the demolition was necessitated by the discovery that the traders refused to abide by the directive of the state governor not to sell on the main road to avoid the gridlock.
He said when the governor assumed office, he made it clear that it was wrong for traders to occupy the highway to inconvenience road users.
“The worst thing is that we are not getting any tangible revenue from the market; we get only N100,000 to N120,000 weekly from the market; there are middle men that rent spaces to these traders who come from up north, Kaduna, Jos and other areas; so, for proper planning of the market, we decided to demolish it, relocate it temporarily to another area until we get the approval to rebuild and plan the market for maximum benefit.”
He said a “New Madalla Market will be built like the IBB Market in Suleja, to the extent that it will not obstruct traffic. You know IBB market Suleja was like that before, until it was rebuilt and planned to an appreciable standard.”
The chairman maintained that the market, apart from the gridlock, has not served the desired economic benefits to the council, the people of Madalla and the state in general, thus the demolition was for a better market to serve all the economic purposes and allow for free of traffic along the highway.
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