Kabkabiya markets in North Darfur raided twice

A group of militiamen plundered a number of shops in the grand market in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, on Thursday evening. The raid comes in the wake of yet another robbery by the militiamen last week, at the crops market. Most merchants remained unprotected by the guards they hired.

Militiamen driving in Land Cruisers broke into a number of market shops at about 8pm. These include the shoe shop of Mohamed Adam, and the telecommunication shop of Abulgasem Mohamed. Another affected shop is the grocery store owned by Ibrahim Adam.

Last Friday, militiamen in six vehicles stormed the crops market in Kabkabiya. They raided the shops and filled their vehicles with bags of millet, sorghum, dried okra, tomatoes, and onions.

The merchants told Radio Dabanga that they are fed up with the robberies, which continue to happen in spite of the presence of guards at the markets.

“There are more than 3,000 market shops which pay SDG20-50 ($3.30-8.30) monthly to the market guards, to protect them against thieves,” a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Adam Abdallah Babiker, told Radio Dabanga.

For his part, North Darfur Governor Abdelwahed Yousif Ibrahim vowed on Thursday to act against criminals with an iron hand. “The security measures taken during the past days will be followed up even tougher.”

Since he took the governor's seat on 8 June, Ibrahim promised to curb the insecurity in the state. He stressed that the security measures do not target any specific group or tribe.

The governor called on the citizens to immediately report all crimes to the police, in support of the new security measures.