Traders at the popular Madalla market in Suleja Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State who bought space for their makeshift shops from the council have been refunded.

Abuja Metro had reported that after purchasing the space from the LGA, erect their shops, officials from the state government came to demolish the shops, citing directive from the state government.

The traders had accused the LGA officials of selling the space for them without consulting with the state governor, Umar Muhammad Bago, who had earlier banned activities at the market about six months ago.

The traders had told Abuja Metro of an impending crisis at the market if they were not refunded.

Following the reports, Abuja Metro learnt that the traders have started receiving the refund of the allocation charges paid to the council.

Speaking with our reporter yesterday, one of the affected traders, Aminu Auwal, disclosed that the council had so far refunded the majority of the affected traders since the repayment exercise started last Wednesday.

He said the money was made available through the chairman committee of the project, Gambo Hussaini.

He, however, lamented that many traders lost beyond the refunded charges, saying many of them spent a lot to build the demolished makeshift shops.

Efforts to speak with the chairman of the committee on the aborted project, Gambo Hussaini, was not successful, as he did not answer repeated calls put across to him on the incident.