Traders from the Retail Market in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos State, on Monday urged the state’s lawmakers to intervene and halt the plan by the Ojodu Local Council Development Area to demolish the market.
The traders, who staged a peaceful protest at the House of Assembly complex, Alausa, said the demolition was a pretext by the council to take the market from them.
The protesters also carried placards with different inscriptions such as “No to demolition of Ogba Retail market, we are the original owners of the shop”, Assembly please save us from demolition of Ogba market.”
The spokesperson for the traders, Mrs. Kehinde Adeola, said the development was sad and a way to make the traders jobless.
She said, “We were devastated to hear that Ojodu LCDA in collaboration with a developer and a bank is planning to demolish our shops. The effect of this action will expose us to great degrees of psychological trauma which cannot be relieved by monetary compensation.
“This undemocratic act will render thousands of law abiding citizens jobless, thus hindering them from paying tax to the government.”
The protesters explained that they took possession and the ownership of the shops during the regime of Alhaji Lateef Jakande in 1983 under a leasehold agreement with a proviso to pay ground rent every year.
Addressing the protesters, Deputy Leader, Lola Akande, promised that the Assembly would look into their plight.
She said “We are your representatives, you elected us and we shall always listen to your complaints, grievances and attend to petitions sent to the Assembly.”
Akande, who is representing Ikeja Constituency II, also urged the aggrieved traders to go back to their normal businesses without causing violence and public disorder
Punch
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