Cattle dealers at a market in Abia State have sued the state government over its decision to demolish residential quarters which they erected inside the market.
The market, Garki Cattle Market, is in Lokpanta, Umuchieze, a community in Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state.
The state government had announced a decision to remodel the market and end the practice of cattle dealers and their families erecting residential quarters inside the market.
The decision followed the state government’s alleged discovery of over 50 decomposing bodies and over 20 headless bodies around the market in October 2023.
The government, at the time, said the market had become a den of criminals and that part of the measures to boost security in the area was to convert the market to a general-purpose one and to fence it around.
It further indicated its plan to eject people living in the market.
Court action
The cattle dealers and residents of the market have now filed a suit against the government at the Abia State High Court, Isuochi, Vanguard newspaper reported.
The cattle dealers’ action followed receipt of a warning notice from the Town Planning Authority of Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state which indicated the plan to carry out the demolition of the residential houses inside the market.
The suit was filed by 12 persons, including Sarkin Zango, Hussaini Muhammad, and Buba Kedemure, the spokesperson of the group, for themselves and on behalf of other cattle dealers and residents of the market.
The State Commissioner for Lands, Chaka Chukwumerije; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna; Chairperson of Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state, Ndubuisi Ike, and the State Commissioner of Police, Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, are all joined as defendants in the suit.
The court is expected to decide on an application for an interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the government from carrying out the demolition of residential houses inside the market, pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The hearing is on 13 March.
