Peter Mbah's Bulldozers: Enugu Traders Left in Ruins Without Affordable Relief

Governor Peter Mbah’s demolition rampage has left Enugu’s traders broken and betrayed, their markets reduced to rubble with no affordable way to rebuild. Ogige Market in Nsukka and Garriki Market in Enugu South have been obliterated, and now the Enugu Ministry of Transport has unveiled shop prices for the new Nsukka International Market, ranging from a so-called “promo” low of ₦12 million to a staggering ₦30 million—prices that mock the struggling traders Mbah claims to support.

On May 22, 2024, bulldozers tore through Ogige Market, home to 10,000 traders, to make way for a transport terminal and the Nsukka International Market. With little warning, families watched their livelihoods crumble; five were hospitalized after falling from buildings in the chaos. Garriki Market faced the same fate, with no relocation or compensation. Even shops on Nigerian Railway Corporation land were demolished, sparking lawsuits from 11 furious business owners.

Mbah boasts of a $30 billion economy by 2031, but his August 10 foundation-laying for the 5,000-shop Nsukka International Market feels like a cruel charade. Promising displaced traders priority, he’s silent on how they’ll afford shops priced from ₦12 million to ₦30 million, as published by the Ministry of Transport. Traders, already hit with tax hikes—like Ogbete Market’s levies soaring from ₦4,000 to ₦21,000 yearly—face financial ruin. The state’s revenue jumped to ₦144.7 billion by September 2024, but it’s built on the pain of those Mbah’s policies have crushed.

The backlash is fierce. A ₦50 billion lawsuit at Nsukka High Court slams Mbah’s heartless tactics, while the APC plans to sue over extortionate taxes. Hon. Chijioke Edeoga calls the demolitions “sorrows, tears, and blood,” and yam sellers in Nkwo Ogbede Market beg for relief. Mbah touts 2,000 projects—roads, schools, terminals—but what good are they to traders who can’t afford a ₦12 million shop, let alone ₦30 million?

This is no affordable or considerate solution in sight at press time; it’s a betrayal of Enugu’s hardworking traders. The governor of Enugu state, Peter Mbah, has to take reconciliatory actions to resolve this issue so the good intentions will not be taken for evil