No fewer than 10 people have been killed by cows that have strayed at the Soro cattle market in the Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

The lawmaker representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Manu Soro, disclosed this in a remark when the management of the North-East Development Commission and the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, inspected the site of a new cattle market.

Soro, who did not mention the period the deaths occurred said, “One of the reasons why this new cattle market was conceived was to protect people from being killed because the other market is very close to the road. We want to move the people away from having their business on the road.

“And it is not just about decongesting the road, but innocent passersby within the existing cattle market are usually thumped by the cows whenever the market is holding and the District Head is here and he can bear me witness that so far, we have statistics which indicated that over 10 people have lost their lives in this kind of processes. Several others have sustained varying degrees of injury due to the overcrowded nature of the market.

“So, we requested the intervention of the commission to relocate the market by constructing a new and expanded one in that regardwhich is this location where we are now.”

The state governor described NEDC’s intervention as timely.

He said, “If you pass through this town every market day, you will see how congested the place has become. People leave the market and come to the road to transact their businesses.

“Sometimes, it takes you one hour 30 minutes and sometimes two hours just to pass cover a distance of about 200 to 300 metres. That’s why the NEDC decided to intervene and build a modern cattle market that will be suitable for transacting business for the people of Soro and for those coming from other places and it will be a model to other towns.”

Also speaking, the Managing Director of the NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, said the Bauchi State Government provided the land for the construction of the market.

“The market will accommodate over 2,500 cattle at a time and there are 48 shops, VIP toilets, restaurant, and many others. One of the most fundamental things the District Head of Ganjuwa said is that we are looking at how we can also integrate the grain market into this market,” Alkali said.’’

Source:- Punch Ng

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