Traders, taskforce clash at Abuja UTC market

THE Area 10 market, popularly known as Unity Trade Centre (UTC), in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was on Saturday, shut down, following a clash between the taskforce hired to control illegal activities, and some illegal occupants in the market.

Investigations by Sunday Tribune revealed that the closure of the market was as a result of a tussle between a taskforce officer and a squatter, who failed to cooperate with the taskforce, a situation which led to destruction of property.

Security personnel have, however, taken over the market and normalcy has since returned to the area.

Witnesses told our correspondent that the crisis started when a taskforce officer ordered one of the squatters to remove his wares from the corridor which was affecting free movement of customers.

He was said to have refused to carry out the instruction of the taskforce officer, a situation which prompted the former to allegedly strike him with charms.

One of the traders, Sunday Femi, who spoke with Sunday Tribune said: “The problem in this market started on Friday. That day, one of the taskforce officers instructed a squatter to remove his goods from the road but the boy refused.

“The officer was provoked and slapped him with charms. He fell down and became unconscious for more than 15 minutes. After some time, the taskforce officer revived him by pouring spit on his hand and rubbed it on the squatter’s body.

“When one of the relations of the victim was informed about  what happened, he mobilised others and vandalised the office of AbujaMarket Management Limited. At this point, the police came in and chased all traders away”, he revealed.

Another trader, Kenneth Ndubisi, said the police was invited to curtain possible breakdown of law and order as the development took a dangerous dimension.

“I was not present when the crisis started, but with the little I witnessed, it was becoming volatile and if not checked by law enforcement agencies, it might have spread beyond the market,” he stated.

When contacted however, the Managing Director of Abuja Market Management Limited (AMML), Mr. Abubakar Faruk said that the taskforce was merely carrying out a routine cleanup of the market, which some illegal operators were trying to obstruct.

He debunked rumour in some quarters that UTCmarket has been closed down due to crisis between taskforce and operators, stressing that the ongoing cleanup exercise was to bring sanity into the market.