Kaduna State government has issued a notice to about 15, 000 traders in Kasuwar Barchi market on Saturday, March 7, 2020, asking them to evacuate the premises within three days.
The notice which was signed by the Director-General of the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA), Ismail Umar-Dikko and pasted on the doors of the shops on Saturday morning, stated that the government had plans to upgrade the market.
The notice which was spotted and reported by the Nation read that:
“In view of the Urban Renewal Projects by the Kaduna State Government (Upgrading of Kusuwar Barci market) you are hereby given three (3) days from the date of receipt of this notice to remove all your valuables and vacate the site.
“Failure to comply with the above directive will leave the authority with no option than to demolish/remove your stall at your expense in accordance to Section 60 of the Kaduna State Urban and Regional Planning Law of 2018.” It read.
Correspondence of The Nation also gathered form the secretary of the market union, Muhammad Kabiru, that the notice was too short has traders are under intense duress to vacate the premises.
Kabiru, who spoke on behalf of the traders who have nowhere else to go, pleaded with the government to halt the demolition till the court delivers its ruling.
“We are in a terrible situation here. We elected this government from our blood and sweat, for our own good.
“They came with notice in the night on Friday that we the occupants of Kaduwar Barchi should vacate. We were not even told, only for us to see the notice on Saturday morning.
“We want the government to consider us and the hard times we are going through. There is nothing that lasts forever.
“We have been law-abiding citizens and we love our government. All we want from the government is to consider us. We want the government as well to abide by the law.
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“There has been a case regarding the demolition of this market pending in court. Yet the government issued us notice to leave within three days.
“We have nowhere to go to. This market is known and established. It’s a very popular market in Nigeria. Moreover, we have not done anything to warrant this unfortunate situation we are in.”