*Traders speak out amid crackdown
*Say hunger and poverty leave them with no choice
By John Alechenu
ABUJA- It is 1:45pm on Herbert Macaulay Way, one of the busiest roads in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Top ranging vehicles ply here as a routine because of the presence of the National Oil company on this road. On this particular day a black colour Sports Utility Vehicle idles outside the popular NNPC Towers. Men in suits pace around them, shouting into phones.
Across the road, cars crawl into a Total filling station. Horns blare ceaselessly in a bid to draw attention. But that causes more distraction of its own. However, beside the station, nylon sheets are spread on the ground. Sachet drinks, groundnuts, cucumber, roasted yam, boiled cassava and roasted corn are arranged in rows. Umbrellas and old campaign posters with faded faces provide shade for traders and customers. This is like a full market in session but it is not. It is actually the mini-market that hawkers have unwittingly created to make a living amid the soaring sun.
