The Abuja Markets Management Ltd (AMML) has cautioned traders and market users in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) against partaking in the planned nationwide protest.

The managing director of the market, Abbas Yakubu, gave the advice while interacting with traders in Abuja on Sunday.

Nigerians planned a nationwide protest scheduled for August 1 to demand the government’s solution to the country’s rising cost of living.

Mr Yakubu urged the traders to support security agencies in ensuring that markets are not infiltrated by people with suspicious intentions in the guise of peaceful protest.

He reminded the traders how some shops in Wuse market, including a police station, were torched by miscreants in the market, destroying properties worth millions of naira.

“The market is yet to fully recover from that incident and AMML cannot afford to risk a repeat of such occurrence in any of its markets.

“No responsible management or trader will fold his or her hands and wait for the incident to repeat itself.

“That is why we are urging you all to mobilise your fellow traders, the wheelbarrow pushers, your apprentices and everyone who has legitimate business in the markets to resist any attempt at infiltrating the market by hoodlums in the guise of protest,’’ he said.

Mr Yakubu argued that although the protest might not hold, following the withdrawal of many groups, there was a need to be proactive.

“I also learnt that there are designated places and locations as well as other rules guiding the protest; we are just being proactive here to state emphatically that if you must protest, stay away from the market,” he warned.

(NAN)