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Alade market traders’ faceoff with developer takes new twist

By Eniola Daniel
22 September 2015   |   1:00 am
WEEK-IN WEEK-OUT traders in Alade Market have continued to express their displeasure at the manner they have been relocated to where they described as inhabitable.
Alade Market, Ikeja. PHOTO; osundefender

Alade Market, Ikeja. PHOTO; osundefender

WEEK-IN WEEK-OUT traders in Alade Market have continued to express their displeasure at the manner they have been relocated to where they described as inhabitable.

Recently, The Guardian visited the ‘temporary’ site provided by the developer to see the level of work in the facility. It was discovered that only 195 shops had been built at the site, while the traders would have to live with obvious threat of erosion. Already, the narrow road linking the market to the main road is littered with human faeces and dirts dumped indiscriminately into a nearby canal.

Spokeperson for the Association of Concerned Alade Traders, Mrs. Oluwatosin Sodunke, said: “Our stand remains the same that we are not going into the canal. Iya Oloja General, Tinubu Ojo had told the developer to count the number of shops occupied by the traders currently in the market, get the job done and then she would inspect the place. If we are satisfied, we will move. That is our stand and that of Iya Oloja General.

“We expect the Iya Oloja of our market to stand by us not against us because that was why we elected her but when this move started, we persuaded her to reason with us and reject relocating traders to the site, instead she went ahead to sign a paper behind our back.”

Continuing, Sodunke said “the Iya Oloja General had told us not to pay any money to the developer but our own Iya Oloja is still lobbying traders to pay N50,000. Some of them went to pay, because they are confused, but the majority are against it.”

Many of the traders, who spoke, said the Iya Oloja is not their problem but the people who are after retiring them from their businesses.
They noted that power supply has been disconnected for over 10 weeks at the market and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) stopped taking away dirt, because Iya Oloja refused to remit the money they pay to her.

The Iya Oloja, Elizabeth Aina Adenuga, in response to some of the allegations leveled against her, said the issues are not news to her. “I pray everyday when I wake up concerning the issue of this market. Some group of people are only ganging up to tell lies against me.

“It saddens my heart whenever the issue of Alade comes up in public fora or someone approaches me for comments. However, I have handed over everything to God and I know He will fight my battle for me. I don’t care about whatever they say about me, the only thing I want the public to know is that there is no iota of truth in all the allegation against me.

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