Niger House of Assembly has called for the relocation of the scavenger market between Bakin Kasuwa and Unguwan Kabula in Suleja over security threats to residents.

Murtal Badaru (APC-Suleja) made the call in a motion that was presented during the plenary in Minna on Thursday.

Mr Badaru said the market, attached to the popular IBB market in Suleja, had been turned into a place for peddling illicit drugs.

He said the market constitutes a security threat not only to the people patronising the IBB market but also to residents of Suleja.

The lawmaker said that the scavenger market had become a haven for dangerous and notorious individuals, adding that illicit drugs were being sold in the market indiscriminately.

He also expressed concern that young schoolchildren were being lured into use of illicit substances.

This, according to him, is leading many schoolgirls to drop out of school to engage in drugs and other substance abuse.

“The market should be relocated to any ideal location within the council area,” he said.

Mr Badaru called on the State Executive Council to direct the Suleja council chairman to relocate the market to another location with a security outpost to monitor market activities.

“The Executive Council, through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, should also direct Suleja Council to convert the site to a business premises. The state government should equally intervene in curtailing the menace of drug peddlers hiding under the guise of selling materials in the market,” he said.

After extensive deliberation, the lawmakers unanimously agreed that the matter should be referred to a Joint Committee on Local Government and Security for further action.

(NAN)