Mile 12 traders set for showdown with Governor

chika ebuzor

April 15, 2016 8:09 AM

The General Secretary, Shukura Yam Section, Mr. Collins Obichukwu said the traders were not carried along by the government.

Traders in the Mile 12 market have expressed their displeasure at the announcement made by the Lagos state government that they will be relocated to Imota in Lagos state.

The traders say the announcement is contrary to the request they made to Governor Ambode.

Punch reports that the General Secretary, Shukura Yam Section, Mr. Collins Obichukwu said the traders were not carried along by the government.

Reports say the Mile 12 traders asked the Lagos state government to modernise the market.

Obichukwu said “The leadership of Mile 12 Market has the belief that the State government will not take any fundamental decision that affects the market without extensive consultation with the stakeholders of the market, particularly the leadership of the market.

“The report of the panel of inquiry set up by Lagos State to look into the incident lends credence to the fact that the civil disturbance was not directly or remotely connected with the activities of our traders. lt is against the backdrop that we received with disbelief and shock the statement credited to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode that our market would be relocated in six months’ time.

“In the unlikely event that it is true, we will view His Excellency’s declaration as a savage attack on our rights to association as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”

He also said “We believe that the government of Lagos State under the leadership of Ambode is a responsive, listening government. How will a government make unilateral declaration on matter that affects our livelihood and the masses without due consultation with the people that will be directly affected by such declaration, particularly in a democratic dispensation? ”

He said the decision to relocate the market was at variance with their request, adding that the government should develop the market into a modern market with functional facilities.”

“After the market was shut, we held a meeting with the government and requested that the market should be developed into a modern market with functional facilities like it was done in Sura, Apongbon and Tejuosho markets,” Obichukwu added.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, that government will relocate the Mile 12 traders to Imota in six months.

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chika ebuzor