Agony as Abuja Farmers’ Market remains closed

The Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, told Daily Trust that the market was closed to prevent “a planned attack by Boko Haram insurgents.” He said the market will be reopened “when the security assessment of the situation permits such a step.” The farmers’ market is popular in Abuja for its  assorted and […]

The Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, told Daily Trust that the market was closed to prevent “a planned attack by Boko Haram insurgents.” He said the market will be reopened “when the security assessment of the situation permits such a step.”
The farmers’ market is popular in Abuja for its  assorted and local  and imported fruits which many people, especially prominent personalities, including members of the diplomatic corps, living in the highbrow area, go there to buy.
Malam Usman Mohammed, chairman of the Farmers Market Association, said the traders in the market are losing millions of naira due to the closure.
He said it costs them N1.5 million to rent a shop at the market, adding that fruits are highly perishable and would therefore be lost within few days if not sold. “So far we have lost over N10 million in the last five days of the seal off,” he added.
When Daily Trust visited the market, soldiers were still stationed there and preventing traders and buyers from entering or even passing by the place.
Some top public officials and military personnel were seen buying fruits from some of the displaced traders who have set up temporary stalls near the  shut market.
A group of traders interviewed by Daily Trust expressed disappointment over the approach of the security agents, noting that they can neither go back to pick up their fruits nor any of their valuable items.
One of the traders in the market, Balla Ahmed, told our reporter that “the soldiers should have given us enough time to vacate but they didn’t and they will not even allow us to carry our fruits.”
He said if the security forces closed the place following a  bomb scare, seven days were enough to neutralise the threat or at least improve security in the area.
Meanwhile, the continued closure of the market is taking its toll on residents.
Tajuddeen Abdallah, a resident of the highbrow Maitama District, told Daily Trust that “This is the we need the fruits more because of Ramadan. Now we have to go to far places to get fruits which are mostly of low quality and without varieties. I hope the market will be reopened for business soonest.”
Another resident, Esther Okoye, said the farmers’ market has become a favorite destination for her. “I buy much more than fruits there. I also get to access frozen food as well as confectionary.”