Thousands of villagers and traders were on Sunday chased out of the Damaturu Sunday market where a female suicide bomber killed twenty people exactly a week ago.
The decision to close the market may not be unconnected with last Sunday’s attack.
Most of the traders that came from far to attend the market were stranded on arrival at the market as stern looking soldiers blocked all the entrances into the market and prevented them from off-loading their goods for sale.
Our correspondent gathered that some traders who gained entry into the market early and began transactions were chased out by the security agents at about 8.30 am.
Hamisu Auwal who sells chicken close to the entrance of the market said that he was lucky to have escaped the wrath of the soldiers whom according to him, came in a commando style and started chasing people out of the market.
“ I was selling my market and suddenly saw some soldiers drove in a hilux on high speed into the market. I didn’t know what was happening but I thought because of the last suicide attack, they only came to protect people in the market. To my surprise, I heard them shouting, get out! Get out! Everybody get out. I quickly grab some of my chickens on the ground and took to my heels,” Auwal narrated.
There were reports that some of the traders were brutalized by the soldiers while chasing them out of the market which could not be independently verified.
Reacting to the incident, the Chairman Traders Association in Yobe State Usman Muazu regretted the action of the security agents.
He noted that the action of the security could be for the welfare of the people but stressed that an announcement would have been made at least 48 hours before the day of the market so as to avoid the loss incurred by the traders.
Muazu said that his members got rumours that about eight markets in the state would be closed but there was no official announcement on the matter.
He listed some of the market billed for closing as: Kukareta; Damaturu; Ngelzarma; Nanawaji; Katarko; Mafa; Sasawa and Banbangida.
An impeccable military source informed that a decision was reached between the Yobe State Government and the JTF on the closure of the markets and the state government was to make the announcement.
Both the office of the Secretary to Yobe State Government and the office of the Director of Press to Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam denied knowledge of any information on the closure.
The Director Security in State Yakubu Damagum in a telephone call with our correspondent said he is not aware of any meeting with security operatives in the state relating to the closure of the market.
Tag: MARKET
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Boko Haram: Damaturu market shut by soldiers
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Traders clean market
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, they say. This aphorism played out at the biggest auto spareparts market in Ladipo Lagos State; where the traders have set three days aside every week to clean their market and its environs.
Though, the Lagos State government has, over the years, earmarked environmental cleaning exercise every Thursday in a week for the cleaning of every market, traders at the Ladipo Central International Market clean up their area thrice every week; on Sundays, Thursdays and one Friday every month.
When Southwest Report visited the market during the monthly sanitation held last Friday, all the stalls were shut. Every trader was seen with either a broom, rake or disposable bag. They combed the streets and evacuated the gutters of water bottles that block the water channels.
President of the traders’ union, who was also involved in the exercise, said it is some of the measures they put in place to ensure a clean environment and complement the efforts of the state government in ensuring a healthy environment and well-being of the residents.
“We are conscious of our environment and that is why we will leave no stone unturned in making sure we are neat not only in our homes, but also in our business place.
“This is the rainy season and much drainage system flow through the market.
Precautions have been put on ground to ensure the debris and rubbish are constantly evacuated,” he said.
He also lamented that the market is yet to have an apportioned space for it to dispose its refuse on a daily basis.
He also urged the state and local governments to come to their aid, demanding a car park for its customers so that they don’t constitute nuisance to people in the area.
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At daggers drawn over market
Over a year after, about 50 shop owners in the demolished Dutsen Alhaji market in Bwari Council Area are still at loggerheads with authorities of the council, who inaugurated the rebuilt facility without consulting the traders and despite a restraining court order. Eric Ikhilae reports
It should be one of the most hotly contested trading centres in town. OnJune 16, the management of the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) rolled out the drums to celebrate the successful completion of the remodelled Dutsen Alhaji Market located within the Dutsen Alhaji community of the council.
Gaily-dressed guests, among who Kogi State’s former governor, Abubakar Audu, senior officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the Bwari Area Council Chairman, Peter Yohanna Ushafa sat comfortably under a large tent awaiting the event of the day – commissioning of the reconstructed market, now named after the immediate past Minister of State for the FCT, Jumoke Akinjide.
Shortly after the ceremonial cutting of the tape, signifying the project’s takeoff, Ushafa regaled guest with the rationale for the project and how it will improve the council’s economy, to which everyone clapped.
But, while the council chairman and his quests went about the commissioning of the market, a group of placard-bearing protesters was at a distance with armed security men. They included men of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
•The protesting traders The protesters were some shop owners in the demolished market and their family members and friends, who felt it was an affront on the principle of rule of law and the nation’s court system for the management of the Bwari Council to commission the market despite an interlocutory order made on December 5, 2014 by Justice O. C. Agbaza of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Jabi, restraining the council from engaging in further development works pending the determination of the suit filed by the aggrieved shop owners.
In the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/113/2014 it is the contention of the about 50 shop owners, led by David Okoawo, having been duly allocated land in the market, which they developed into shops, it was wrong for the Bwari council’s management to unilaterally demolish their shops and rebuilt them without regard for their interests.
The shop owners, who exhibited copies of the allocation letters, issued to them by the Chairman of the Bwari Council, stated that by the terms of the allocation, they were required to develop the land space located to them into shops, which they will occupy for 15 years, but subject to payment of yearly rent to the Council.
They said they have kept to the terms of the allocation by developing the land into shops and paying annual rents, but were yet to exhaust the 15-year period when the Bwari Council unilaterally terminated their agreement by demolishing the market on August 7, 2014 without notifying them or including them in its new arrangement.
“I am the owner of Shop No. 43 in Dutsen-Alhaji market by virtue of a letter of allocation of open space for building a shop at Dutsen-Alhaji market, issued to me by the Bwari Area Council on March 15, 2012. “The purpose of allocating the open space to me was for the purpose of building a shop which I will own for 15 years in accordance with the terms and conditions as contained in the allocation letter, commencing from March 15, 2012 and will expire by March 14, 2027.
“My ownership of shop No. 43 in Dutsen–Alhaji market was still subsisting when the defendants (the Chairman, Bwari Area Council and the Bwari Area Council) entered the market and demolished it on August 17, 2014 in violation of the terms and conditions of the allocation letter,” one of the aggrieved shop owners, Mrs. Felicia Ogedegbe, said.
Her story is the same with that of the other 49 shop owners who suffered similar fate and are now seeking the intervention of the court in the suit filed through their lawyer, Samuel Ogala of Falana and Falana’s Chambers.
They want the court to declare, among others, that their allocation still subsist and that the demolition of the market by the defendants violated the terms and conditions of the allocation. They seek an order directing the defendants to reinstate them to their shops; an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their agents or anybody claiming title from the defendants, from taking over the market space earlier allocated to the plaintiffs and re-developing it.
The plaintiffs also seek an order directing the defendants to pay to each of them N2.7million as compensatory damages for the demolition of their shops and destruction of their property; N5m each as compensatory damages for breach of the terms and condition of the allocation agreement and N5m as cost of legal fees.
However, following complaint by the plaintiffs, to the effect that despite being served with court documents in relation to the case, the Bwari Council and its appointed property developing firm, Eflaye Nigeria Limited, were proceeding with reconstruction works in the market, the trial judge, Justice Agbaza, on December 5, 2014 granted the plaintiffs application for interlocutory injunction and ordered the defendants and their agents to stop further development works in the market.
But, despite the order of December 5, the defendants and their agents proceeded with their development works in the market, a development which informed the plaintiffs’ decision to commence committal proceedings against the defendants.
On May 27, the court took arguments from parties in respect of the contempt proceedings, with the plaintiffs’ lawyer insisting that the defendants are in contempt of court and should be penalised accordingly.
The defendants, through their lawyer, Martina Dajo, have denied any wrongdoing. They queried the competence of the suit and the court’s jurisdiction to hear it on the grounds that they were not issued the required pre-action notice as provided in Section 124 of the Local Government Act of 1976, and that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action against them.
Although the plaintiffs exhibited an evidence an evidence of service of the court’s interlocutory order of December 5, 2014 on the defendants, as shown in a Form 3 duly endorsed by a senior bailiff of the court on December 8, 2014 indicating service of copies of enrolment order and hearing notices on the defendants on December 8, 2014, the defendants denied service.
The defendants faulted the plaintiffs’ claim that their rights to demolished shops, which they built and were to own for 15 years based on the terms of a letters of allocation issued by the Bwari Council on the ground that under the Land Use Act, Area Councils in the FCT do not own land and cannot legitimately allocate any.
Although they did not deny issuing the allocation letters to the shop owners and that they have been collecting annual rents on the allocated land from the shop owners, the defendants argued that it was only the FCT Minister who can legitimately allocate land within the FCT.
“The plaintiffs’ root of title is the offer of allocation they attached in their claim which by law, does not give them the locus standi to approach the court and make demands of ownership of land as the defendants are, byS laws of the FCT, not empowered to grant such allocation.
“This is not tenable and it is contrary to the explicit provision of the law establishing the FCT. It is therefore our contention that they (the plaintiffs) have no subsisting legal right in the subject matter of thus suit.
“A thorough perusal of the plaintiffs’ averment reveals that the parcel of land in dispute was not a subject of allocation by the Minister of the FCT, who enjoys the sole statutory favour of vesting ownership of land in the FCT on the citizenry upon application. The question seeking for answer is: Where lies the plaintiffs’ locus to institute this action against the defendants? Apparently, none,” Dajo said in his notice of preliminary objection.
The defendants urged the court to dismiss the suit.
But, in a counter argument, the plaintiffs contended that aside not denying that they allocated the land comprising the market to shop owners and had collected rents before the demolition, the defendants failed to address the right and power of the Area Council or Local Government Area, under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, to establish and manage markets within the council.
Paragraph 1€ of the Fourth Schedule provides that the functions of the Local Government Council shall include: “the establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences.”
Justice Agbaza has fixed ruling for July 22, 2015 in the contempt proceedings.
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Ogun market woman leader killed
Tension is mounting in Ijebu – Ode as all markets are closed following the killing of the Iyaloja of Ijebuland, Alhaja Sadia Elewuju, in her Ijebu – Ode home by people suspected to be assassins.
Alhaja Elewuju was murdered around 3am Thursday when her assailants reportedly invaded her Itorin – Sabo home, Ijebu – Ode, shooting and also matchetting her before disappearing, a source told The Nation.
The Nation gathered that neighbours and some family members first rushed her to a nearby private hospital situating along the Ijebu – Ode – Ore expressway but later taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital(OOU), Sagamu, where she reportedly died.
The Police in Ijebu – Ode and detectives from the Igbeba Police Area Command have swunged into action to unravel the circumstances and motives behind her gruesome attack.
The Nation tried contacting via phone calls, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, for reaction but there was answer from his end when the phone rang.
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Delay in govt appointments affecting the market, say shareholders
The continuing delay in the announcement of cabinet positions of the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari is adversely affecting the performance of the capital market, a group of shareholders has said.
Shareholders under the aegis of Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PROSAN) said the continuous delay on the appointment of ministers would continue to affect the capital market as investors need to know the policy direction of the economy.
National coordinator, Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PROSAN), Mr. Oderinde Taiwo, said both foreign and local investors will only invest in a market if they know the policy direction.
“You can see that immediately the new President of Nigeria emerged after the 2015 election, the stock market moved up and now the market has been going down because of the uncertainty caused by continued delay in the appointment of ministers and policies pronouncement,” Taiwo said.
He urged shareholders to show active interest in the affairs of their companies, berating the low attendance of shareholders at annual general meetings.
He canvassed for a rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which will make it mandatory for companies to provide online audio and video of the general meeting’s proceedings.
According to him, one of the demands of sustainable good corporate governance is the disclosure of vital information to their shareholders which are always discussed among other matters on the floors of the annual general meeting. As such, if there is any way such proceedings can be assessed by shareholders after such meeting, it will be a move towards positive direction.
Taiwo urged SEC to continue to think on ways of further developing the Nigerian market to meet global standards.
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Valmont water enters market
Giant Beverages Limited has introduced Valmont, a super-premium water brand, unique in both content and packaging into the Nigerian market. The new product is coming with a new trailblazing Sport cap offering which is the first of its kind in the industry. With this unique offering, the company, a wholly owned Nigerian company is bent on ensuring Nigerian brands join the league of internationally renowned brands.
Its General Manager, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, said the introduction of the product into the market is to ensure that this mark of quality – which comes in a blazing red colour -is stamped on the product from the onset to differentiate it from the pack and ensure it sets the pace in quality and packaging. “What we are doing is making a statement that Nigerians can produce quality product with packaging that can conform to the highest international standards. This is why our Sportcap will make the difference.”
To this end, the new product, Valmont is positioned as a super-premium water produced to the best of international standards. “The water goes through our ultra-purification processes without being exposed to air until it enters our unique bottles, thus preserving its freshness and purity. It is called ‘Valmont’ for its strong, rich, luxurious and sophisticated background.”
He added that Valmont is natural and produced to accompany fine food and luxurious lifestyle. Its transparent and minimalistic labeling further gives it an extra touch of class which is expected to appeal to discerning consumers who will stop at nothing to enjoy the best that life offers.
In order to make maximum market impact to meet consumers’ varying needs, the product comes in, 600ml, 750ml (Sportcap) and 1.5L 100 per cent recyclable plastic bottles. At a later point, it will also be available in 750ml glass bottles sold only through high-end restaurants, hotels, international airlines and event outfits
Giving additional information on the brand, Marketing Manager, Mrs. Bose Ogunyemi reinforced the earlier statement that Valmont’s Sportcap (750ml)
“Valmont is a lifestyle brand that delivers much more than hydration to the consumer. Valmont has the red cap which signifies prestige in Nigeria; it also makes the brand striking and outstanding. That is the fundamental reason the brand promises prestigious quality and purity.”With the tagline “Live Pure,” the brand, which is bottled to the highest standards, provides the refreshing essence that matches discerning consumers’ lifestyle wherever they are found.
Giant Beverages Limited was set-up to focus primarily on the manufacturing of quality healthy alternatives to the traditional sugar sweetened carbonated beverages. With this mandate, it will fill a huge gap in the beverage sector, a gap for healthy and natural beverages.
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‘Open market best for baby items‘
Buying baby items for an expectant mother is an important aspect of pregnancy. Some of these items range from baby wear, bed-cot, dippers, flask, baby carrier, cardigan, cap, socks, baby walker, and feeding bottles.
Although they are found everywhere, to get cheap bargains, the open market is the best place to visit.
At the Ikotun market, Lagos, baby items are displayed to attract customers; merchants stand by the road side leading to the market to distribute their business cards to their target – pregnant women- to enhance patronage.
Mrs. Shade Ogundigba is a sales representative at Twins Faga, a baby store in the market. She said baby items are sold at cheap prices at the market. “We sell baby items here at wholesale prices for people who want to buy them to resell. We do not only stock cheap items, they are of good quality, so far, and we have been experiencing huge patronage because of our unique selling point which is affordability,” she added.
However, prices of these items are determined by the brand. Baby wears range from N300 to N1, 000. Socks and caps go for between N200 and N500. A small size baby bed sells for N3, 000, while the big size is N9, 000. A small baby carrier is N3,000 and a big one is N9, 500. Baby wipes and dippers range from N200 to N 1, 000. Baby feeding bottles cost between N1, 000 and N3,000, walker sells for N4, 000 for the small size and N 10,000 for big size. Flasks go for between N1,500 and N 5,000, while a shawl and a blanket cost N 5,000 each
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New pay TV banks on low-end market for growth
The windows of opportunity in the Pay TV market have continued to attract new brides despite that it operates on an imperfect competition mode.
With StarTimes, Consat, Montage making efforts to slice the share of the market from a dominant pay TV brand, a new entrant, Actv has unveiled new strategic move to attract the low-end market whose population according to the brand handlers is a good bargain for growth.
However, with the growing market size luring players into the industry, content creation appears and quality audio-visual experience that comes with a pocket-friendly subscription fee has become an innovative approach to get greater market share.
Also, against a general perception that a Pay TV market without sports content such as European Football live matches would lose its ground, an indication has emerged that only a small population-mostly men- in the market TV market watch pay TV. Experts believe a larger proportion of the pay TV consumers are women and children whose interest lie in entertainment and other TV contents.
As a result, the new entrant, Actv is banking on this notion to position its brand as an indigenous Direct To Home (DTH) cable television service provider with a moderate subscription cost enhanced consumer TV experience, providing an easy access to high definition channels ACTV-6000 HD decoder which is offered as an exclusive offer by some other Pay TV brands.
Launched last year, the station is carving a rapidly growing share of the Nigerian cable television market with its affordable world-class TV bouquets that address the needs and expectations of many customers in Nigeria. The company said it is concerned about what it considered the high fee charge rate in the industry and is already offering Nigerians some contents in low prices compared to competition.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ACTV, Godfrey Orkeh, said during the launch of the brand last year: “With the launch of ACTV, we are saying to Nigeria that we are committed to ensuring that we provide value to everyone and we keep delivering value now and in the future.”
The brand handlers said the ACTV-6000 HD decoder is undoubtedly a customer’s delight with its exceptional video clarity, enhanced sound quality, TV programme guide, recording, picture browsing and pause-TV features.
The Director of Content, Jide Laurence, told The Nation that ACTV is primed to give Nigerians the opportunity to choose their television experience with its unique offerings. “Their advanced HD decoder that easily fits into one’s pocket and is highly portable is one of the decoder features many customers have been going out for”.
He said that is why the pay TV is creating its own content to suit the taste of the Nigerian subscribers across ethnic barriers. “The company is also blazing a trail as the first truly Nigerian cable television service provider offering unique indigenous content. It delivers OJI, the first ever Igbo channel, ‘AREA!’ the first-ever Pidgin English Channel and ‘GATTV’ the first-ever Nigerian gospel music programme. It also offers ‘IBILE’ the Yoruba movie and entertainment channel, ‘RANA’ the Hausa channel showcasing the best of kannywood and ‘e nolly’ representing Nollywood movies, series and entertainment with lots of Nigerian content already being produced for the delight of its customers,” he said.
To target the low-end market, he said, ACTV offers four bouquets with over 56 local and international channels for a paltry “N1,999 subscription fee, customers enjoy its world-class content available through the ACTV Prime bouquet with 18+ channels, ACTV Family bouquet with 24+ channels for N2,499, ACTV Family Max bouquet with 36+ channels for N3,299 and ACTV Premium bouquet with over 56+ channels for N4,999 monthly. Furthermore, the company is currently running a promo that gives customers free subscription for three months when they buy its decoder and dish for just N10,000.”
ACTV offers over 45 international TV channels providing news, movies, general entertainment, children, sports, religion, lifestyle content genres to mention, but a few. The ACTV channel lineup includes BBC World, Sky News, Aljazeera, France 24, Russia Today, Fox News, FOX Business News, VH1, MTV Base, BET, FOX Movies, B4U Movies, FOX Sports 1 & 2, Nickelodeon, Baby TV, NatGeo Gold, Investigation Discovery, Fine Living Network and many more.
Since it was launched last year, Laurence said the market is already responding positively and strongly to the ACTV offerings as shown by its growing subscriptions record which he refused to disclose as a result of competition.
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Huawei targets low-end market with Y3
Huawei has unveiled the latest low end smartphone tagged Huawei Y3 to spur mobile connectivity in Nigeria.
According to the firm, the Huawei Y3 which is powered by Etisalat Easyblaze followed the successfully launched the Ascend Mate 7 late last year.
Senior Marketing Manager, Huawei Nigeria, Olanipekun Okunowo, said: “We are excited to launch the Huawei Y3,” a powerful more accessible entry range Huawei smartphone to the Nigerian marketplace.’’
He said the Huawei being able to leverage all the capabilities of the existing mobile networks, the Y3 offers customers a choice of smartphone developed by Huawei, one of the world’s strongest pedigrees in mobile telephony today.
He stated that the Y3 is specially designed for the Nigerian market with great features and quality construction that both new and experienced smartphone users will appreciate.
Okunowo added: “The Huawei Y3 is a stylish dual sim android smartphone with an elegant matte finish, flawless curve design, and single hand control. It sports a 4.0-inch capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 16M colours, and an LCD WVGA screen display screen coated with scratch-resistant glass. It runs on Google’s Android Operating System – 4.4 Kit Kat – on a 1.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor. It also provides 512MB RAM and 4GB ROM.”
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Online auto market thriving
Carmudi is the only vehicle marketplace which offers buyers, sellers and car dealers the ideal platform to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online. In this report are the results of Carmudi quantitative surveys conducted online with car buyers and dealers, as well as in-depth interviews with industry influencers across the country. The online platform examines the current and future state of the automobile industry in the country as well as other emerging markets, TONIA DIYAN reports.
The drastic increase in internet and mobile penetration, rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP) , and the emergence of a middle class have succeeded in changing the global state of automobile sales and car purchasing behaviours in the country. There is a shift from offline to online car purchase, 83 per cent of Nigerian car buyers turn to the internet, blogs, forums, and social media when researching for cars. According to majority of car dealers, up to 80per cent of their customers turn to the internet and social media for auto research.
Globally, auto e-commerce has grown at such a staggering rate that now as many as 80per cent of new car customers and almost 100per cent of used car customers begin their car shopping experience online. With internet and mobile penetration significantly growing in emerging markets, the rate of moving the car shopping experience online is beginning to mirror that of Western markets. 83per cent of car buyers have been reported to use the Internet to conduct research on cars before making purchases.
From findings by Carmudi, responses have proved that offline media, including newspaper classifieds and auto expos (under 10per cent) are declining as a source for buyers. Nigerian car dealers are also getting more and more digital when advertising their listings. Around 80per cent of car dealers are now primarily focused on advertising their car listings online.
The Chief Executive Officer of Globe Motors, William Anumudu, said; “Currently, the number of people turning to the internet for car purchase has been on the increase. A lot of people use the internet to search for information, products or services. Any business that wants to excel must go digital. This is due to the fact that Nigerians like to be associated with new trends, the internet means accessibility to the world at all times and having information at the fingertips. As people embrace the internet, all businesses online will profit.”
The study also stated that the state of ‘Global Car Sales Global automotive sales’ for 2015 are expected to reach close to $89million, a 2.4per cent growth from 2014. Emerging markets’ share of global sales will rise from 50per cent in 2012 to 60percent by 2020, while their share of global profits is also set to rise by 10per cent. When it comes to new cars, purchase intent is strongest in Asia, where 65percent of respondents say they will buy new cars in the next two years, compared with seven per cent who plan to buy used cars.
Christian Keller, Managing Director Carmudi Nigeria said: ”2015 is the year of online car sales in Nigeria. With an unmatched growth rate in online car searches in Nigeria and a rapidly growing middle class, Carmudi´s report affirms that our investments to become the number one online car marketplace in Nigeria were worth it.”
Nigeria has been heavily dependent on auto imports, which account for the largest share of the country’s foreign reserves each year. New vehicle assembly plants are expected, and the number of imported cars has already declined significantly from 11,563 in January to 7,400 units in February. Last month’s historic election of Muhammadu Buhari as president has generated uncertainty surrounding the autos sector. Although the party is pro-business, some industry stakeholders disagree with elements of the Autos policy, such as second-hand dealers who will lose out from the 70per cent tax on imports, or who would like to see full implementation of the policy deferred. Buhari could choose to reverse all or some sections of the automotive policy to secure more support with these stakeholders.
The Carmudi study stated that 30percent of car dealers in Nigeria reported an increase in car sales over the past 12 months due to the changing economic climate, while 50 per cent of car dealers surveyed reported a decrease. Nigeria’s auto industry remains relatively strong, but critical policy changes, such as the National Automotive Industry Development Plan, have the potential to change the entire industry.
