Lawrence Bajah, Author at Tribune Online

Abuja Markets Management Limited has urged traders and other Market users in the Federal Capital Territory to support its effort and that of the Security Agencies in ensuring that the market is not infiltrated by people of ignoble intentions in the guise of peaceful protest. Speaking with traders and other stakeholders over the weekend in reaction to a proposed peaceful protest on August 1, 2024, the Ag. Managing Director, of Abuja Markets Management Limited, Engr. Abbas Yakubu cautioned that experiences including a very recent one show that miscreants will not stop at anything to take advantage of any type of gathering in the market, peaceful or not. Engr. Abbas reminded the traders how some shops in Wuse market, office, and Police station were torched and millions of Naira worth of properties, destroyed just a few months ago by miscreants who have no stake in the market. Noting that the market was yet to fully recover from that incident, the Ag. MD maintained that Abuja Markets Management Limited cannot afford to risk a repeat of such occurrence in any of its markets. ‘’We have history of protests and other incidents cascading into wanton destruction of properties in our markets; no responsible Management or trader will fold its hand and wait for it to repeat. That is why we are urging you all to mobilize your fellow traders, the wheelbarrow pushers, your apprentices, and everyone who has legitimate business in the markets to resist any attempt at infiltrating the market by hoodlums in the guise of protest’’, he advised. Speaking further, he clarified that the market as business environment is designated for buying and selling and therefore should be jealously guarded by the owners and operators for that purpose. “I understand that it may not hold as many groups are withdrawing from it. I also learnt that there are designated places and locations as well as other rules guiding the protest. We are just being proactive here to state emphatically that if you must protest, stay away from the market”, he concluded. Meanwhile, traders, marketers, and shop owners across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have rejected and distanced themselves from the planned nationwide protests, billed to commence on the 1st of August, 2024. Chairman of combined Chairmen and Secretaries of FCT Markets and Plazas, Chief Raphael Okorie, in a chat with newsmen, said the nationwide protests will disrupt their businesses, hence their reason for boycotting it. Okorie who doubles as the National Coordinator of Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), said a series of meetings had been held with members of the various market unions in the FCT, as well as security agencies, on how to protect the markets. He said protesters who are often sponsored usually attack businesses, shops, and markets during a mass action, thereby incurring losses for his members. Okorie said arrangements are in top gear to protect their businesses by discussing with security agencies and other private arrangements ahead of the mass action. He called for understanding and urged FCT residents not to join the mass action, explaining that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be given more time to address the concerns raised by many aggrieved Nigerians. He said: “We understand that prices have gone up significantly. But this is not peculiar to only Nigeria. This is a global trend. I urge our people in the FCT not to join the protests. Instead, they should give the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu more time. “As an association, we are not leaving anything to chance. We’ve been invited by the various security agencies on how to handle this, and we are openly saying that we don’t want to be part of the protests. We reject it. Instead, we are asking that leaders of the various groups who want to protest should dialogue with the government. “Violent protests will never solve problems. Only a dialogue will work, and I call on our members not to join. Instead, we call on them to protect their businesses and remain law-abiding. I believe President Tinubu is working hard to address these concerns,” Okorie said.