They alleged that the exercise was carried out with the active involvement of the Divisional Police Officer, Mohammed Sani.
Tension gripped Azare, the headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State, on Tuesday after dozens of shops at the Old Trailer Park along Maiduguri Road were demolished by the local government authorities, leaving many small business owners counting heavy losses.
Affected shop owners accused the Chairman of Katagum Local Government Council, Yusuf Babayo Zaki, of ordering the demolition.
They alleged that the exercise was carried out with the active involvement of the Divisional Police Officer, Mohammed Sani.
According to information obtained by SaharaReporters, the demolished shops were located at the Old Trailer Park, a strategic transit point on the Kano–Maiduguri route.
Residents said the area serves as a mid-journey stop for trucks travelling to Maiduguri.
Some sources on the ground claimed that the land had been allocated to a contractor to build a gas station while some others said it had been earmarked for allocation to the Dangote Group for the construction of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station intended to service trucks plying the Maiduguri corridor.
SaharaReporters was told that the proposed Azare CNG station would function as a refilling centre for trucks en route to the North-East.
Residents also raised concerns over what they described as conflict of interest, noting that the Katagum LG Chairman is related to Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
They alleged that the council chairman, like Muntaka Duguri, is a nephew of the governor, adding that “his mother is a sister of the Governor.”
Duguri is a co-defendant in an ongoing Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) case over an alleged ₦4.6 billion money laundering scheme.
Further confirming the development, local sources told SaharaReporters that the land was indeed slated for allocation, while estimating that properties worth about ₦100 million were destroyed during the demolition of “tens of shops.”
Beyond the economic losses, residents also warned of looming safety risks associated with siting a CNG station in the area.
They pointed out that the proposed location is surrounded by major institutions and residential communities, including the Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare (FUHSA), its teaching hospital, and Aminu Saleh College of Education, Azare.
Behind the proposed site, according to residents, are students’ quarters housing hundreds of students from FUHSA and Aminu Saleh College of Education, while a densely populated community known as Garin Arab is also located nearby.
They warned that “in the event of fire outbreak, only God knows how many people and properties are going to be affected.”
Witnesses said shop owners initially attempted to resist the demolition but were overwhelmed by what they described as the heavy presence of security personnel at the site.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters showing the demolition in progress, a narrator was heard saying, “As you can see, they come today to demolish Mogashua motor park with graders and other heavy equipment. They are with police and other security personnel and they prevented the property owners from recovering their belongings. Also, some of them tried by all means to pick some of their remaining belongings. Look, people have gathered as if they will fight.”
Efforts to get a response from Anthony Chiejina, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Dangote Group, proved unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him as of the time of filing this report.