Trader adjacent to the Railway Station in Jos, the Plateau state capital, have demonstrated over what they described as illegal plans to demolish their shops by the management of the Railway Station.

The traders said the planned demolition was against a valid court order halting any attempt at dislodging them from their business area pending the determination of the suit filed by the traders against the Railway Station.

Chairman of the traders at the market, Alhaji Rabiu Muhammad, while briefing journalists in Jos, argued that none of them is trading close to the railway, adding that they legally occupied the shops more than twenty years ago, as the land was leased to them by the Railway Authority.

Muhammad said, “It is the railway people that give us the building permission. We got a building permit from Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB), in the last twenty years. We believe that some management staff of the railway are trying to dislodge us for their interests.

“The place where the train is moving is far away from where we are trading. All the structures erected here followed due process. Nobody erected it illegally. They are the ones that give us permission and the papers to occupy the shops are from the Nigeria Railway Association, “ the chairman added.

The market chairman further told journalists that they have filed a suit and secured an injunction, ordering the management to halt the planned eviction and demolition.

“We went to court to seek for intervention, but still they violated the court order and demolished some of our properties. They are now targeting more than 400 shops to demolish,” he said.

Charity Okorapo, a trader in the market lamented that “what is happening here is too much. They are driving us while we are paying. This place was just a bush but we used our hands and cleared the place some 20 years ago. After that, we begin to pay money every year because the place has been leased to us. Let them leave us to do our business.”

Another trader, Ade Onyenira , expressed worry over the development, saying, “We have been disturbing us without any reason. Please, the federal government should intervene. This is where we earn our living. We are transacting business here legally.”

Contacted on the development, the Public Relation Officer of Railway Station in Jos, Adamu Muhammad, had declined comment to journalists, saying he was not authorized to speak on the matter. (Daily Trust)