Ibb.. Angry demonstrations in protest against the Houthi militia’s closure of a commercial market affiliated with Al-Shaab Sports Club

Today, Thursday, the city of Ibb witnessed angry demonstrations, denouncing the Houthi militia’s closure of a commercial market affiliated with the Ibb People’s Club, and the assault on the market’s workers, with the aim of emptying it and robbing it.

Yemeni Youth Net sources said that hundreds of supporters of the Shaab Ibb Club and vendors in the wholesale vegetable market in Al-Dhahar District (the center of Ibb Governorate) carried out an angry march in protest against the Houthi militia closing the market and assaulting its workers.

The protesters chanted slogans in the march that started from in front of the market to the local authority building, against the Houthi militia and its armed elements deployed around the market, and they also denounced the failure and collusion of the governorate authorities with the attackers on the market.

The sources explained that the militia elements fired into the air in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators, but the protesters continued their march until they reached the local authority headquarters.

The protesters demanded that the Houthi crews be removed from the market, that it be reopened, and that the Houthi elements who attacked the market vendors at dawn today be held accountable.

Meanwhile, athletes held the club president and governor of the province in the Houthi authorities, Abdul Wahid Salah, responsible for what is happening to the club’s investments, and accused him of colluding with the conspirators to close the market for their personal interests, demanding that confidence be withdrawn from him.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Public Prosecution Office in the governorate issued directives to remove the armed crews present in the vicinity of the wholesale market affiliated with the Shaab Ibb Club, and to return commercial activity in the market to normal. It also released a number of market traders who were kidnapped by the militia to force them to close the market.

Last Monday, the terrorist Houthi militia closed the wholesale vegetable market affiliated with the investments of the Shaab Ibb Club, surrounded the market with military crews, and kidnapped a number of its merchants.

According to a statement by the club, the closure came "to serve personal interests and desires represented by serving the so-called "Moeen Al-Abraqi" - the owner of a competing market supported by the Houthis - who has repeatedly tried in vain to move the market, using his influence in all its forms to harm the public interest."

The club explained that what the militia security did "not only reflects disregard for laws and ethics, but also represents a direct threat to the stability of the club and a blatant violation of its rights and interests, and a blatant assault on its modest resources, which negatively affects its sporting and social activities," stressing its adherence to its material and legal rights and its commitment to the principle of order and law to protect its property.

During the past two years, all attempts by the militia to move the vegetable market (wholesale) from the lands of the Shaab Club in Al-Dhahar to the “Green Brigade” market in the “Al-Sabil” area west of the city of Ibb, which is affiliated with the Houthi investor from Amran, “Moeen Al-Abraqi,” have failed.

According to informed sports sources, the militia aims to empty the market floor, which is located in the heart of the city, where the most expensive and valuable lands are located in all Yemeni cities, as a prelude to seizing it.

During the years of the coup, the Houthi militia looted the lands of Ibb clubs and rented them to investors, while continuing to occupy sports facilities in the governorate, which negatively affected the performance of the governorate’s clubs in various sports competitions.