Hundreds of traders at the popular Bola Ige International Market, Gbagi, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, have appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde not to demolish their shops through developers.
The traders made the plea during a peaceful protest held within the market premises on Thursday against alleged plans to demolish some shops in the market and resell them to interested buyers.
The petty traders in the market’s five zones who said they are using the shops to feed their families and educate their children, have therefore begged the governor to allow them to build the shops by themselves instead of using developers they don’t have trust in.
The traders, who lamented that over 6,000 of them would be affected by the planned demolition, urged the governor to direct the contractor to halt the demolition of shops in the market.
One of the traders, Alhaji Ismail Yusuf, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, noted that the traders staged the protest within the market to express their displeasure.
“We are here to protest and pray against the demolition of our shops. We are here to express our grievances against the plan by the state government and the contractor to demolish our shops. We appeal to Governor Seyi Makinde; we want him to hear our voices. Some people came as developers to demolish our shops and rebuild them. We don’t want developers. We want to build our shops ourselves.
“During the time of Alhaji Lamidi Adesina, he allowed us to use planks; during the time of Chief Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja, he allowed us to use containers. Governor Seyi Makinde said he wants us to use blocks.
“We want him to allow us to do it ourselves. We don’t want a developer. The developer will exploit us. We want Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene and come to our rescue”.
A female trader at the market, Deaconess Oluwatoyin Akinpelu, who also spoke, regretted that four people have died as a result of the planned demolition of the shops. She advised the governor to allow the traders to build the shops themselves.
To Mrs Moriyeba Babajide, while appealing to the governor to approve the building of the shops by the traders, she said, “We want the governor to approve for us to build the shops ourselves. They should give us the sample, and we will do it ourselves. That is what we want. We don’t want any developer”.
