Tension flared at Miraa Market in Nairobi's Pumwani Estate as traders clashed with police in a three-hour standoff, protesting what they claimed were plans by an investor to seize their market.
The traders detailed that the market given to them by Governor Johnson Sakaja is now being eyed by a private developer, something that has forced them to come and protest.
The protests and rising tensions prompted the deployment of a battalion of officers to quell the chaos.
The traders revealed that the private developer who was eyeing their land was using a Nairobi County officer to evict them from the market.
The piece of land, known as the Miraa market, is the dissemination point for all Miraa vehicles that come from Meru daily and has been a source of solace for the hundreds of Miraa traders.
It is alleged that the Nairobi County officer in question arrived with police officers from Dagoretti to carry out the eviction, raising suspicion, as officers from Eastleigh—where Pumwani is located—would have been the expected authorities to handle the matter.
The traders, who seemed completely irked by the move, now want Governor Sakaja to immediately reign in on errant officers whom they accuse of sabotaging their market.
The traders insist it was just recently that they got the land, considering that they had lobbied to get it for a long time.
In a case that could escalate into further conflicts, a section of the Miraa traders has reported suspicions that another faction, which refused to occupy the space, may be behind the annexation plan.
''We are the ones who were assigned this market by the Governor and as such we are the ones who should be consulted in the vent that there are additional plans on the land use,'' a trader narrated.
''We suspect that it is the other faction that refused to use this space to be the ones inciting the grabbers to come and take up our space,'' he added.
Official data indicates that approximately 7.2 per cent of Nairobi's population consumes miraa, with higher consumption rates among males and younger individuals.
