Shop owners partially opened for business in Kaduna metropolis as residents awaits the results of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who went round the metropolis on Tuesday to monitor developments reports that most of the shops were under lock and key.
Most shops along Kano Road, Ibadan Street, Nupe Road, Lagos Street and other areas where Igbo traders hawked their goods remained closed.
Eateries and many supermarkets have also remained closed, except for some few ones that open for business to provide services for the few residents.
NAN reports that there was light traffic along the busy Ahmadu Bello Way with very few commercial busses and private vehicles seen plying the road.
Some of the traders that opened for business were complaining of low patronage as most residents remained at home waiting for the final outcome of result .
Malam Alhassan Musa, a second-hand cloth dealer, complained of low patronage, saying he had sold only a single cloth since he opened for business since Monday.
Musa attributed the development to the uncentities when the election results come out, saying there might be violence like it happened in other general elections,
“I have witnessed many election violence in this market, it is only logical that residents remained at home just in case there is a negative fallout of the election result.
Another trader, Rayyanu Ibrahim, who sells phones and accessories at Makarfi Plaza, also complained that the plaza was a bit empty with no form of activity taking place.
“Since Monday I come to the market around 10 am and closes by 5pm with very little,” Ibrahim said.
Meanwhile, a food vendor along NEPA headquarters Mogadishu road, Mrs. Maryam Adamu, said that patronage was picking up gradually and expressed hope that it would pick up fully in a few days.
“I only cooked small amount of food because of the low patronage so as not to run at a loss, i hope to cook more in subsequent days ” she said.
She urged other residents to remain peaceful and conduct themselves properly after results were announced. (NAN)
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