By  Favour Nnabugwu

Abuja—Over one hundred traders yesterday protested alleged plan by Abuja Investment and Property Company Limited, AIPCL, and All Purpose Shelter Limited and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to take their shops from them and allocate to new people.

The traders at Wuse market who staged a peaceful protest, carried placards with inscriptions such as  “We have lost livelihood due to 11 years of oppression”; “We reject exploitation”; “Mama CJN save our soul, let justice prevail”; “11 years after ejection, handover our shops”; ”Stop the evil against Wuye market original allottees to “The rich Nigerians are terrorising our lives”.

The protesters insisted they would not allow developers to reap them off.
They argued that the shops had been allocated to them with all necessary payment duly made,  and implored the developers to respect the rule of law.

The traders also protested the violation of a court order which directed the parties to maintain the status-quo, pending the determination of the suit filed by the traders.
Speaking on the development, Barrister Sepiribo Peters of the God’s People Legal Consult, warned the developer against violation of the substantive order.

He said the original allottees, who were unsatisfied with unfolding events, dragged the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, and the developer, All Purpose Shelters Ltd and Abuja Investment and Property Development Company Limited, to court adding that attempt by the developer to open the shops for operations was tantamount to contempt of court.

Sepiribo said the land for the construction of the allottees under the aegis of Association of Wuye Ultra-Modern Market Allottees, was approved in 2002 by the FCT Minister after taking the census of the traders who were displaced by the inferno that gutted the new Wuse market (now NNPC Mega station) in 2001.

“The subject matter in court is to the effect that the plaintiffs are entitled to their shops as they have paid the sum the Minister of FCT asked them to pay to be allocated the shops.

“Instead of delivering the shops to these poor traders, the FCT wants them to pay millions of naira to a private company for another re-allocation of same shop to the tune of N5 million,” he said.