By Our Correspondent
Placard carrying Sapele Market traders have vowed never to relocate from their stalls or collect the money they earlier paid into the Government scoffers during Uduaghan regime pending their suit with the government at the Sapele High Court, as they pleaded with Alhaji Mohammudu Buhari, The President Federal Republic of Nigeria to prevail on Governor Okowa to allow them do their normal trading.
The traders who bore the inscription, Igbuya stay your own, Government allocated the stores to us, we took exclusive possession, Igbuya you were a trader like us, don’t increase our sufferings, Okowa remember anything that comes around goes around, Sapele market traders dey cry o! Governor Okowa be focused, don’t be deceived, Okowa watch Igbuya carefully, House of Assembly is not Sapele market, Igbuya give us chance, we shall not collect the money, we traders urge the EFCC, ICPC and other law enforcement agencies to come and rescue us, Governance is suppose to be a continuity of the past, President Buhari come to our aid e.t.c. have vowed to continue their trading activities uninterrupted in the said market from Monday 23rd November, 2015 when they were asked to collect back their store fees.
Some of the traders who spoke to journalists from A.I.T, channels, NTA Abuja, ITV Benin and other print media, at the Sapele main market during the protest, said apart from the N24,000 they paid before been allotted stores, N2,000 was earlier paid on forms, while considerable amount of money was used by each trader to reconstruct the stores to their taste wondering who will pay them back these cash.
They added that since the announcement came from government that they must move out, they were in no way panic, stressing that the rule of law must prevail as they reminded the governor that they have no other places to move in for trading activities, and he should as well note that he was part of Uduaghan’s Government who allotted the stores to them.
Their lawyer Barrister Obakpolor Emmanuel who also briefed journalists during the protest said the past administration upon the allotment of the stores gave them (market traders) an account numbers with Sterling Bank Account Number 0032569181 wherein the traders have paid for the annual stores fees at N24,000 into the said account, meaning the State Government and the traders have entered into a perfected contract agreement.
He added that he incumbent government surprisingly came up with a scheme to send the traders who have already taken exclusive possession to vacate the market to enable them allot same to their cronies and purported “ Kitchen Cabinet” members and well wishers.
The legal luminary added that upon this, the traders immediately approached the High Court, Sapele where they filed through their lawyer, himself Obakpolor Emmanuel who is based in Benin City, a motion and a writ of summons challenging the acts of the incumbent State Government with Suit No. S/45/2015 which the adoption of the motion is fixed for the 19th day of November, 2015 and now the State Government had appeared in count through a counsel from the Ministry of Justice Asaba, Delta State.
He explained further that it baffled the traders when the same State Government came up with a circular that the said Contract of allotment has been revoked on the 16th day of November, 2015 that the traders should go and collect their store fees in the office of the Accountant-General of the State, an act he described as laughable.
He added “I do not know whether the State Government know what they claim to revoke, if they did revoke, they should ask lawyers from Ministry of Justice whether or not they can revoke this kind of contract and the steps to be taken. The rule is when a matter like this one is in Court, all parties must wait till its determinations” he stated.
Barrister Obakpolor also appealed to the President, Alhaji Mohammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federal and the National Security Adviser to stop this act of impunity and that the Government of Delta State should as a matter of fact wait for the courts final determination.
