Some residents and business owners on Ibrahim Umar Street, Hausawa New Layout have protested the demolition of shops and stalls by the Kano Road and Traffic Agency (KAROTA).
Kano/Jigawa Chronicle gathered that some KAROTA officials, led by the agency’s Managing Director (MD), Baffa Babba Danagundi, stormed the street on Saturday and demolished shops, which according to the agency were illegal structures.
It was further gathered that the development followed a report by some senior members of the community who requested the demolition due to drug peddling alleged to be happening around the area.
Speaking on the issue, an elder in the community, who preferred to be anonymous, said the demolition was carried out with ulterior motives meant to frustrate the business owners.
“In actual sense, what we saw was a very bad experience. They said they were suspecting them to be selling illegal drugs. I have spent over 30 years in this neighbourhood, I don’t know any of them selling any kind of drugs.
“We have a cordial relationship with business owners. All of them are operating businesses that are useful to us – things that we need on a daily basis. They are very helpful especially during odd hours,” he said.
Muhammad Rabiu Kabir, a business owner who is among the victims of the demolition, said, “They came in the late hours on Saturday and started with a meat seller. They took the meat, zobo and other drinks to their car and left. Then we became alerted, investigated the issue and found that we were billed to leave the place.”
He said he lost over N100,000 as a result of the demolition.
“Two years back, we were given forms. We filled them with our guarantors and all other information. It is with the elders of this community”, he added, saying it was therefore surprising that no effort was made to reach out to them or their guarantors on the allegation that prompted the demolition.
“None of us smokes cigarettes, talk less of selling illegal drugs. They said this is a Government Reserved Area (GRA) but it is the residents that allowed us to do our businesses here because we are helping them. There’s no residential area no matter how big or expensive in Kano that does not have these kinds of businesses,” Mika’il Ibrahim Ishaq, another business owner said.
One of the youth leaders in the community, Yusuf Abdullahi Sumaila frowned at the demolition, saying it could increase unemployment and insecurity.
“There was a time when a medical doctor was chased by some armed robbers trying to collect his car, these are the people who foiled the attempt and saved the doctor. Then how do you say these people are contributing to insecurity?” Sumaila asked.
When contacted, KAROTA’s MD, Baffa Babba Danagundi said the business owners were operating illegally.
“They are illegal structures. That was why we went there to remove them. They don’t have any legal permission to do business there. Besides, it is a residential area,” he said, adding that the agency had been carrying out similar operations in different areas of the city.
“It is from the community we received the information; some members of the community complained about happenings in the place and sought our intervention which resulted in what we did and they are happy,” he added.
