Traders at the Mile I Market paid an unscheduled visit to wife of Rivers State Governor, Suzzette Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, February 5, at the court premises but could not see her.
They went to express their feelings to the First Lady of the state who is also a judge of Rivers State High Court to appeal to her to prevail on her husband and governor of the state on allocation of stalls to the traders at Mile 1 Rumuwoji Market.
They said they want a situation where government would give them shops as original shopowners and not through balloting.
The traders numbering over 30 moved to the court entrance of the First Lady and demanded to see her but were stopped by security operatives.
At a point, more security men were moved in to monitor the traders who had then started moving away from the court entrance of the wife of the governor.
Security men were to question those who needed to come into the courtroom as a result.
By this time, the traders started moving away from the court entrance and gathered outside.
As a result, security was tightened around the court premises.
Our reporter who needed to go into the courtroom was questioned by security men whether he had case in court and allowed in only as he identified himself.
The governor’s wife came into the courtroom at 13:08 and the court registrar read out a case from the cause list, and there was no way of knowing whether the governor’s wife was aware that traders came to see her in her court and there was no reference to the matter.
But in an interview, the Chief Coordinator of the Mile I Shopowners Association, Chief Abela LongJohn, said they were in the court to express their feelings to the governor’s wife and ask her for assistance.
Chief LongJohn said: “We are here to see our governor’s wife as our Mother to express our feelings to her because we don’t know what is really happening – how the governor is treating us like this. What is happening is we are the original owners of that shops and he promised us that he will build it and give it to us. So after building it now, he’s saying he wants to ballot it and balloting is not good for anybody. So, we don’t like that kind of condition (and) we are still begging him (and) pleading with him. We came here to complain to her (Governor’s wife). Maybe she has been hearing often and often but let us see her one on one as our mother (and say) this is our condition, talk to our Father”.
He said they want the state government to give them shops and ballot remaining shops to other traders in the market.
LongJohn said they have proof to show to the government that they are original shopowners saying that they have record of everyone who did business in the market before it was gutted by fire.
Also speaking, the Assistant Public Relations Officer, Ebiere Amachree, said they were at the court to see the First Lady and ask her to intervene in the matter.
She said: “We have come to see our Mother because we want to officially tell her to come into this matter on our behalf… My mother has been trading there (in the market). My grandmother has been trading there (and) owned shop. So the essence of our being here is for our mother to help talk to our Father”.
Queen Blessing Amadi who also spoke said they came to appeal to the governor through his wife to give them shops as original shopowners.
She said that she had been selling in Mile I market for twenty-five years and appealed to the governor to allocate shops to them as original shopowners in the market.
Abdullahi Mohammed who said he had been doing business in the market for more than 40 years recalled that Governor Wike promised to give them back shops after rebuilding the market gutted by fire.
He said that they were the ones doing business in the market before it was destroyed by fire and urged the governor to give them shops as original shopowners.
Boniface Ohakwe who also spoke said: “We want to beg her (Governor’s wife) to help us and beg the husband to listen to us and give us the owners of the shop(s) their shop(s).”
Traders at the market protested the allocation of shops through balloting making the Rivers State government to suspend the process. The traders also employed a lawyer to pursue the case in court.
But State Commissioner for Housing and Chairman of the Allocation Committee, Hon. Chinedu Tasie, promised that the government would devise a means to allocate the shops to traders in the market.
