Follow Us on Google
Job Osazuwa
Thousands of traders at the Festac Second Gate Market in Lagos are gnashing their teeth and counting their losses, after the authorities of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area (LGA) rolled out bulldozers to demolish the market.
Some of the traders arrived at the market early on May 24 to meet the bulldozers already at work.
At the end of the exercise that lasted five days, about 4,000 shops were turned to rubble. Many of the traders at the market wore sober looks over the demolition of their means of survival.
The marketers, however, admitted that they were given the space by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for temporary use.
When the reporter visited the scene on May 27, traders were observed in twos and threes, discussing in hushed tones. Some of them went about selling what was left after the bulldozers’ rage. They groaned that the demolition would plunge them into poverty.
“We have been dispossessed of our only means of livelihood. If the government had known how many families were dependent on these businesses, they would not have taken the action, especially in the manner they went about it. Some of us have been selling here in the past 35 years and have heavily invested in our shops,” a shop owner, Okoro Emmanuel, said.
There were also accusations that the central leadership of the market betrayed the traders. They alleged that their leaders connived with government to further compound their woes.
The Festac Second Gate Market was one of the most popular and busiest markets in the local government council. As early as 6am, traders would have started displaying their wares for patronage, until as late as 10pm.
Although investigations showed that the council, in conjunction with a developer, was planning to rebuild the market and turn it to a modern shopping centre, the traders said government had never been sincere, considering past negotiations.
One of the traders who sold clothes at the market lamented that the demolition, which also affected his wife’s shop, was a big blow to his entire family. He said he had been trading in the market for almost 23 years.
He stated that the council had, sometime early this year, summoned leaders of the market to a round table talk.
His words: “The last time we met, the council promised us that the demolition would be done in phases so that the adverse effects would not be much. The council, the market leaders and the developer promised us that they would destroy a part, reconstruct it, then move traders there before another part would be demolished. We embraced the room for negotiation and agreed to meet in March for further discussion, but what we saw last Friday was outright demolition. So, how can we trust the same people in further discussions?
“The only paper that was brought to us a week to the demolition was from Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, asking us to tender any document to prove our right to trading here. They gave us seven days to do so. While we were running around and trying to find a way around it, just the seventh day, the council started demolition.
“I was still at home when someone called me that bulldozers were already destroying shops. In one day, demolition has wiped away our years of consistent investment. No more sales, and everything is at a standstill.
“It is sad because some traders’ capital is not up to N10,000. And the government is asking them to pay as much as N300,000 for each of the proposed shops. It is not possible.”
The aggrieved marketers, while expressing their worries, emphasised that, by the time the market is rebuilt, most of the former shop owners would not be able to afford the new rent. In their words, it was already being speculated that acquisition for the new shops would be “as high as N3000,000 and N1 million, according to the size and location of the shop.”
Another shop owner, Okafor, who sells shoes and bags, said the council invited the market leaders in April 2018 to sign a document that proclaimed that the traders were begging the LGA to help them rebuild the market.
He pointed out that the land where the market was situated was a buffer zone, with sewage pipes from FESTAC running underneath.
He said, “We, about 11 of us, told the council executives that we never begged them to build the market for us and we refused to sign. That is where the trouble started. I have been here since 1998. FHA told us not to build big structures here because it was a swampy area.
“I did my container with about N80,000, but by the time the bulldozer was through with, I sold it as a scrap for N5,000. Some persons who spent about N200,000 to erect theirs ended up selling them for N5,000 or N7,000. The quality woods and tiles we used to build our shops were completely destroyed.
“I am confused at the moment because I lost my former shop last December. All my goods were razed by a midnight fire. I had to borrow money with interest in order to start all over again. Now, there is a demolition.
“Most of the people selling here are poor people, widows, orphans and other people with one problem or the other.
“On the first day of the exercise, they damaged people’s goods. The owner of one of the shops was not yet around to remove his goods. So, most of the goods got spoilt before he arrived.
“Many people who rented their spaces had just paid to the owners, unknown to them, the place would be destroyed in about a week’s time.”
Some of the traders described the demolition as a selective exercise and accused those who supervised it as biased. They alleged that some persons who were close to the authorities were spared and allowed to remove their wares and makeshift kiosks at their convenience.
A trader who dealt in furniture, who did not disclose his name, said he was still in shock over how the local government took the traders for granted and went ahead with the demolition, thereby leaving them in sorrow.
Another trader at the market, Ebuka Amuche, who had a provision shop, said the exercise was sending him back to his village.
While pointing to a demolished container on the ground, he said: “This is all that I’m left with after 17 years of trading here. I have to sell it for N5,000. It shouldn’t be so but government has done it and left us wailing. I can’t calculate the actual loss at the moment, I know it is above N2 million.”
He claimed that those who helped him to hurriedly save his goods from being demolished by the bulldozers ended up adding to his travails by stealing most of the goods.
Another trader, who sold clothes at the market, Sunny Simon, said he had spent a lot of money, like many of his colleagues, to ensure that his shop was above the water level because the area was waterlogged. He said he spent about N1 million to put his space in good shape for business.
“This place was a canal, but some people took it upon themselves to sand-fill the place. Outside that, we have been paying one levy or the other to the council and the leadership of the market.
“What we are saying is, let there be a window for discussion whereby those who have made huge investments here should be compensated. Let the old traders get the first allocations when the market is rebuilt, and with a reasonable amount.
“I spent about N1 million to build my shop. They don’t expect me to cough out another N1 million to get another allocation. The funniest part is that nobody is coming out to tell us anything at the moment. This is our plight.”
His colleague, Chucks Nzeruo, who traded in kitchen utensils and had spent 31 years in the market, said the exercise was nothing but intimidation from those in power. He said nobody could tell, if indeed, there was going to be a new market or how long it would take to complete, so that the people could plan along those lines.
“All my children depend on this my shop for feeding, schooling and other daily expenses. We are just here waiting for what they will decide because they are not consulting us,” he said.
However, some traders were seen at different parts of the premises doing brisk businesses under big umbrellas. Food vendors were cooking and selling food in the open.
Meanwhile, in a chat with the reporter, the Iyaloja-general of Amuwo Market, Mrs. Osinatu Adebayo, refuted allegations of foul play.
“The problem is that the market is too rough and the state government called us to say they want to rebuild it to a modern market. They would have finished building it but we have been delaying and begging for more time,” she said.
She promised that buying and selling would continue as usual, once the site has been cleared. She further pledged her commitment to the traders in ensuring that they all get shops when the new market is completed.
When the reporter visited the council secretariat, the chairman was not on seat. But a top of official who said he was not authorised to speak on the issue, told Daily Sun that there was no truth in the traders’ allegations.
“I was conversant with all the meetings prior to the demolition. The marketers came here many times for negotiations. Let us not also forget that nobody gave them that space for trading. Being there for 40 years does not make it legal,” he said.
He advised the reporter to speak with the secretary to the LGA, who was also not around.
When the secretary, Seyi Ipinlaye was contacted on telephone, he asked the reporter to call him back later, explaining that he was at a meeting. But several calls and a text message sent to him thereafter were unreplied.
