Traders at the Lugbe Building Materials Market were Monday thrown into anguish when the market was demolished by officials of the FCT Administration (FCTA).
The traders who spoke with Daily Trust Saturday said the booming market was home to wares estimated at N8bn as they transacted in cement, sand, POP, wood, among other building materials which made the market the first choice of those constructing buildings in the sprawling Lugbe suburb of the FCT and beyond.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that the location of the market has always drawn the attention of authorities as it sits under a power line yet to be connected to the national grid and on a road corridor for the Ring Road 3 project, which the officials said necessitated the demolition.
It was gathered that several notices were given for the demolition but were not carried out due to interventions to allow the traders pack out their wares.
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Hence the demolition on Monday was chaotic as goods were still in stalls when the exercise was carried out.
The traders claimed the demolition caught them off guard.
A drizzle during the exercise did not deter the officials from levelling the market.
Speaking with our reporter, the Chairman of Sand Suppliers in the market, who simply identified himself as Abdulrahman, said he was shocked by the total demolition of the market as the information they had was that it would only affect those under the electricity transmission lines.
Abdulrahman said there were goods in the market worth over N8bn, with more than 2,000 persons conducting trade to feed their families.
He said, “We were aware of the demolition, but they did not give us the appropriate time to prepare to pack our goods. We have been conducting our trade in the area for 20 years without any trouble with the authorities, but what they told us from different meetings we had was that the demolition won’t affect those not close to the transmission lines.
“That was why we were not prepared to pack our loads. Even when they brought the bulldozers yesterday, we were relaxed, but unfortunately, they destroyed millions of goods just to clear the place.”
Another trader, Michael Obi, said the authorities informed them of the demolition two months ago but that most traders did not pack out due to the state of the area assigned to them.
Obi said the market provided as an alternative was in Sabon Lugbe but lacked an access road for heavy trucks which brought goods they ordered.
While stating that the demolition was badly timed, he said the traders and residents would suffer from the demolition as the market contributed a huge revenue for everyone.
Speaking at the site, FCTA’s Director of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, said, “the exercise was to clean the city of illegal structures and shanties.
He said the market area was a road corridor that led to Gwarinpa and other parts of the city.
It was further learnt that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has given a contract for the energisation of the transmission lines that pass through the market, hence that the market had to be removed before the contractors moved to the site.
Haruna Ismail, a wood seller, said he lost some of his wares when the exercise was conducted and that he had nowhere to take the remaining stock to.
He said, “I have to sell the ones I have before I leave this place. Who will pay me for the ones that were destroyed, and if I am to pack out, I need to hire a truck that will charge me thousands of naira. Where will I take them? Who will pay for these expenses?”
Another trader, Ikechukwu Martins, who now sells construction tools in his car, said he was lucky to get the news of the demolition early in the morning to pack what was left in his stall.
He said the goods he had were moved to his house while he sold some in his car to a few people who still visited the site.
He further said, “We have been going through hard times since the demolition. The market has always been a source of livelihood for me and my family. I don’t really know where to go or where to start from. I am not thinking of getting a shop somewhere else because the market will not move there.
“Where I can go now is a business cluster, where building materials are sold, and there is none in the Lugbe axis for now.”
When asked if he is willing to go to the new place provided in Sabon Lugbe, he said the traders could not move without necessary infrastructure.
He stated that the authorities should have fixed the place before the demolition.
For Emmanuel Attah, who sells POP temporarily in a residential building close to the market, moving over 100 bags of the item cost him more than N200,000.
Attah said he was paying a vigilante to guard the goods displayed in the front of the building as his customers still came to patronise him.
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