My 10-year biz worth N20m gone in one night – Victim

From Usman Bello Balarabe, Kano   Over N100 million worth of businesses at the Farm Centre GSM Village, Kano’s major mobile phone market, were lost to demolition last week leaving many youths counting their losses and joblessness.  The Managing Director of Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA), Baffa Babba Dan Agundi, reportedly led security officials on […]

From Usman Bello Balarabe, Kano  

Over N100 million worth of businesses at the Farm Centre GSM Village, Kano’s major mobile phone market, were lost to demolition last week leaving many youths counting their losses and joblessness. 

The Managing Director of Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA), Baffa Babba Dan Agundi, reportedly led security officials on the demolition exercise as part of a task force said to have been set up for demolition of illegal structures in the state. 

Daily Trust reports that this is the second demolition exercise embarked upon by the traffic boss in one week, with the first carried out last Sunday at Hausawa New layout in the state’s metropolis.

Victims of the latest demolition told Daily Trust that no fewer than 150 shops were affected. It was said to have been carried out with the help of several security agents that came in five vehicles of Anti-Daba Squad of the Kano State Police Command led by the traffic boss.

The police personnel were said to be attached to the task force for security.

Awaisu Sunusi Bala, one of the traders, said his shops were part of those demolished at the popular GSM Market. 

He told Daily Trust how the state police aided the traffic boss in the demolition of his over N20 million worth business which he established 10 years ago and has been a source of financial independence for him and as many as 14 others.

“Four of my shops were amongst those demolished. I have been in this business for over 10 years. This is a tragic event that happened to us in the most unexpected way. We rented these places to operate our businesses but just one night we woke up to see KNUPDA’s notice written directing us to remove our stalls,” he said.

KNUPDA is Kano state’s Urban Planning and Development Authority.

Bala said the first thing all the shop owners did was to reach out to the owner of the market to inform him about the KNUPDA notice and that he assured them that he would liaise with the landowners and sort things out. 

Days went by and fear of the unknown still permeated the market, he said, adding that they asked again whether there was any progress but the market owner said he was still trying to negotiate with the landowners.

 “After the negotiation appeared to have failed, one of the top government officials here in Kano (referring to the traffic boss) arrived at the market with his convoy of police personnel – the Anti Daba Squad. 

 “He told all of us whose businesses operate on that land to meet with him at an appointed time and venue. Of course, we met him, talked with him and he gave us three days’ notice to remove everything we have on the land. This is a place where we have been paying rent and carrying out our business activities for several years.

 “We had properties that we could not move out in three days. We tried every possible effort to reach an agreement with him to even increase the days given to us to enable us to properly move our things elsewhere but he refused, saying that the land belonged to someone and since he had issued a notice to us through KNUPDA, he will not give us any additional days. 

“Of course we have every intention to move out but then having agreed to have another meeting with him, the market owner, a senior lawyer, and the local government chairman, all in an attempt to have a memorandum of understanding, we decided to wait for the outcome of the meeting first.

“Unfortunately, the meeting ended in a deadlock; and very unsettling and sad for us, that same day our shops were demolished in the night,” Bala said.

According to him, that same night when the demolition was taking place, some of his boys were already at the market trying to move out some of their goods, especially having seen that the meeting ended in a deadlock. But then they suddenly heard sirens of police convoys heading to the market and became scared and ran away from the place.

He also said his boys told him that the police convoy was followed by the truck used for the demolition of their business places. 

He noted that they have never experienced a loss as huge as that inflicted on them by the demolition, especially for someone like him that imports goods from China and sells wholesale to retailers at the market. He said he is among those with the highest capital in that market.

“In two of my shops that were demolished alone, I lost over N20 million worth of goods. I gave employment to more than 14 people whose sources of income depended only on that business, now what are they going to do? 

“Before the shops were rented out to us, we followed all the procedures and met all the requirements. Our businesses should not have been demolished overnight because of an issue between the owner of the land and the owner of the market. 

“That should not have affected us, or our businesses because we operate on a rental basis,” he added.

Most of the victims, according to Bala, are youths trying to be productive and earn a living legally. Therefore the tragic event that happened to them “is wickedness, and therefore very unfair.”

He expressed concern over having to send all his boys back home, because he no longer has the business that will provide a source of income to them, noting that most of the criminal activities disturbing the country now are carried out by unemployed youths.

 Some of the boys were struggling to have a good footing in legitimate business and they should be encouraged and not sabotaged.

Nura Shehu, another victim of the demotion, said Dan Agundi demolished their shops the same day they had a meeting with him.

“On Wednesday, we had a meeting with Baffa Dan Agundi over these shops and stalls that operate on land he claimed to be his and he gave us two days’ notice to move out all our properties or he will demolish everything. 

“But that same day, our shops were demolished in the night. I have lost goods in my two shops worth over N25 million,” Shehu said.

Another victim, Sani Yakubu, said he lost over N14 million worth of properties.

“Yes we had a meeting with him around 8pm and he told us if we removed all our properties that same night we were safe. There were almost 200 shops and stalls in that place. How can we move everything in that same night? 

“I was called in the early morning hours and told that our shops were demolished and only for me to come and find my shop with properties worth over N14 million nowhere to be found,” he said amidst tears.

Alkassim Musa, who said he was among the first people that saw the incident in the early hours of Thursday, added that he saw an uncountable number of phones damaged and other properties amidst the rubble of the demolished shops.

However, when contacted, Dan Agundi said the land did not belong to him as alleged by some of the shop owners, but the owner of the market encroached into someone else’s land and for that reason, he (the market owner) was informed right from the beginning by the owner of the land and relevant authorities not to erect any building on the land but the market owner refused to heed.

Dan Agundi added that last month, KNUPDA also communicated with the owner of the market and gave him notice to relocate from the land he rented out to the shop owners but he again refused, and the demolition had to be carried out.