Rivers State Government on Monday yielded to pressure by suspending the planned allocation of shops at the rebuilt Rumuwoji market, Port Harcourt.
Rivers Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Thomas Barriere, who is in charge of allocation of shops at the Fruit Garden Market had assured the traders that a verification would lead to the identification of genuine shop owners with a view to allocating their shops to them.
But the shop owners through their spokesperson, Mrs Mercy Obene, explained that since there are more than 2000 stalls in the market while members of his group are about 1000, the Government should allocate their original shops to them and ballot the rest.
But Barriere regretted that some of the traders came with forged documents, while some who claimed to have bought their shops from the original owners, could not produce any documents to substantiate their claims.
“It is an open process, no bias, it is transparent”, he said.
Higher Kings, a Human Rights Advocate in Port Harcourt and a lawyer to the Mile One Shop Owners Association had said that traders of the market will embark on a demonstration on Monday if the Rivers State government goes on with the balloting of the newly built phase 2 of the market.
Higher Kings, while briefing newsmen after a peaceful protest by traders and shop owners of the mile one market said “the Rivers State government has a list of names of the original shop owners of the mile one market, which was submitted to them after the market was razed down years back”
“Why would the state government allocate mile one market by balloting, knowing fully well that the shops that was burnt down were owned by individuals. Allocation of shops in a market that was razed down by fire has never been done in this state, so why will the government allocate shops by balloting?
“The fruit garden market that was also burnt down by fire, is being rebuilt, they are not allocating shops back to previous owners by balloting so why would they give back shops to previous owners of the mile one market by balloting?
“We went to court last year suing the government on its plan to deprive former shop owners the ability to regain their shops and they approached us demanding that we settle outside court, so our council filled a discontinuance in the matter.
“After we filled for the discontinuance of the matter, the state government called for the accreditation of shop owners, which they have all done, but we were all surprised when we saw a memo of balloting to allocate shops to previous owners of shops at the mile one market.
“We have refilled and served for a court injunction and until there is a hearing, the status quo remains. There shall be no balloting and any attempt to ballot, the mile one traders will barricade sensitive areas in the state including the state government house” he said.
Also, one of the shop owners, Mrs Queen Blessing O. Amadi said “my late father is the first to lay a foundation in this market, and I have traded in this market for over twenty (20) years now.
“After our shop got burnt down, the governor promised he was going to rebuild the shop and hand it over to us the real owners. We appreciate him for rebuilding the market but he should do well by fulfilling his promise of handing over shops to previous owners”
“99% of the mile one market owners campaigned for him even in the recent election that brought him back to office. I am appealing to him to fulfil his promise by giving us back our shops and not putting them up for balloting because if he ballots them, strangers will definitely take over our shops leaving former owners with nothing”
On her part, Mary Batubo, a shop owner at the mile one market said “I don’t want balloting, the governor should fulfil his promise of giving back shops to previous owners before the market was razed down by fire’
“I am a widow, over the years, I have been selling ice fish to cater for my children and I. Balloting may not favour me, I don’t want balloting”
