More than three years after their shops were demolished by officials of the Lagos State Government and Ikeja Local Government Area, traders at the Alade and Oshodi markets in Lagos State have demanded compensation from the state government.
A large section of the Oshodi market was demolished in 2016 by the state government for the building of a bus interchange whose construction is near completion.
Similar scenarios played out in the same year with the Alade market in Ikeja, which had existed for years, the local government had said that the market was to be developed into a shopping mall.
However, three years after the eviction of the traders, the Alade markets remain undeveloped and abandoned, mainly because of a disagreement between the government and the traders.
Speaking during a tour with journalists and students around the site of the two markets, organized by an environmental foundation, Rethinking Cities, leaders of the two markets bemoaned their plight since the demolition, stressing that most of them had become jobless.
Cyprian Anthony, a trader in the Owonifari portion of the demolished Oshodi market, accused the state government of demolishing the market without giving them prior notice, stressing that some of them lost their means of livelihood in the process.
According to him, “The demolition happened without any notice. I had two shops here; most of us had traveled for Christmas break and they surrounded here with security people and forced people to leave. The demolition even took place in the night.
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“As a businessman, I lost about N2million. I lost the shops, I lost my goods. Now most of us are selling on the roads and opposite where they are doing the interchange construction,” Anthony said.
Anthony, however, urged the state government to provide compensation for the traders, stressing that some of them were finding it difficult to survive.
“Our demand is that the government should compensate us. Fashola wanted to send us out but he just calmed down, but when Ambode assumed office, he just came with soldiers and destroyed the place. That was how they did it.
Also, a leader in the Alade Market, Alhaja Sulola Dania, accused Ikeja local government officials of colluding with a private property developer to forcefully take over the market.
Dania added that the location of the temporary market, build for rent for the traders, was not conducive for trading, stressing that some of the traders had abandoned their businesses in the process, while others could not meet up with sales due to poor patronage.
“What happened is that the market was demolished by the Ikeja LGA; they are working with a private developer and they said they want to build a shopping mall.
“A lot of us have been in the market for years, but they took us to a temporary market which we rented at a high price. The place is even beside a canal and not conducive to trading.
“A lot of the traders have left there. There is no light here. We want the government to take us to a new temporary location,” Dania said.
Founder and Executive Director of Rethinking Cities, Deji Akinpelu, urged the government to give priority to the interest of the citizens when citing developmental projects.
“Government has to put the interest of the people first when making plans for development because the people or traders would keep searching for alternative places. If care is not taken, all the terminals that you have been building, the traders would still go back and sell under them,” he said.
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