90 shops close down at Maroua ‘Bus station’ Market

90 shops have been closed down by elements of gendarmes and police in the heart of Dougoi district in Maroua which has been turned into a busy commercial market place called ‘Bus Station’.

The area used to be an old bus station in the city that served several towns in the Far North region before it was turned into a market.

The eruption caused several travel agencies to abandon their premises because traders had transformed that part of the area into a marketplace, causing a mess. Unfortunately, "since the existence of this market, the Maroua III that owns this space has not made a substantial development to know who does what in this mess,” remarked one resident.

Butchers, mechanics, detached parts dealers, clothing and even fresh food vendors were occupants of the area.

As part of measures taken by the administrative authorities to ensure the safety of people after the attacks of July 22 and 25, the defense forces erupted the activities of the weekly market in Maroua in the early hours of Monday morning. This came as a surprise to all the occupants and other road users.

They conducted a loop in order to identify the users of this place, popular with local and foreign populations.

According to police sources, the security forces surrounded the market in order to carry out an identification control of people who come together and to make the formal identification of all the owners of the shops there.

According to a witness, during the raid by the gendarmes and police who came in large numbers, many traders went into hiding yet, the majority of them had just installed their goods. Many people did not have a National Identity Card. Yesterday, when the Cameroon Tribune reporter toured the area to assess the mood after the presence of the security forces, several tenants of shops and stores in the market, popularly known as ‘Tacha’ had closed their business.

The police had closed down all the shops, whose owners were not around at the time of the raid. The gendarmes and the police officers left Bus Station market at around 4pm.