DAILY POST reliably gathered that the victims and other traders sympathetic to their cause planned to embark on a protest on Sunday to vent their anger but were advised to shelve the plans by the police and some elders in the market till further notice.
They equally alleged that when they pleaded with Al-Baba to appeal to Governor Masari to allow them build their shops themselves, Al-Baba demanded the sum of N5,000 from each of them, claiming that the money will be given to Katsina Urban and Regional Planning Development Authority to design a market plan for the affected traders which will be tabled before the Governor to allow them rebuild their shops.
Similarly, Alhaji Sanni Lawal said: “Honestly, we Know that Governor Masari is an honest and kind-hearted man with passion for helping the less privileged but what this committee did made me very sad. They gave me N13,700. The debt on my neck alone is more than that. I thought when the compensation comes, I will be able to settle my debt and move on with my business because it is through this business that I feed myself and family. I don’t have any other business apart from this.
The committee handling the compensation said the government approved the payment of 40% of the amount lost by each trader as palliative to be given to them. “I was given just N50,000 even though I informed them that my total loss was N1.5 million. Please how is N50,000 now 40% of N1.5m? Maybe I will return their money because I don’t know how the amount will solve my problem or compensate for my loss.
Ismail Tijani, a dealer in baby wears, whose three shops were gutted in the inferno, illustrated the scenario thus: “For instance, they told us, they will rebuild your shop for you after given you a cash assistance of N13,000 but you will have to pay N1.6 million for the shop and also before they hand you key to the shop, you must have paid the sum of 400k, how would you now invest the N13,000 to generate the N1.
“Our major concern is not the money given to us, What we want the government to do for us is to give us the go ahead to rebuild our shops.
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