According to News Nigeria, the Popular Festac Markets Located along 1st, 2nd and 3rd gates in FESTAC would be relocated as they were situated in Illegal Places by the Lagos State Government.
This was disclosed by Muslim Folami ,Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, yesterday at a stakeholder’s meeting with leadership of the Festac markets at the Government Secretariat, Alausa, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The meeting was held in order to inform them of his intention of ejection of these markets as they were ILLEGAL !.
According to Folami ,
“that place is not the right place for you to have your market. Where you are occupying now is illegal and causing a lot of gridlock, hoodlums use that place to hide their weapons and use these weapons at night to harass people.
“The traffic is giving government a major concern, government wants to have a free traffic. The task force officials have been there and they reported their findings to the governor. There are a lot of shanties there, it is a trunk road that goes to Seme, it is an eyesore to have things like that on an international road of that nature.”
The markets in the area “cause gridlock, the hoodlums hide guns there and they sleep there, you don’t know it, but intelligence report says they are there. We don’t want to see something that is dangerous to you and overlook it because this is your government and we are concerned about your safety. Boko Haram are moving over to this area from the North East and we don’t want what is happening there to happen here,” he stated.
The stakeholders had earlier appealed for an alternative for these markets so that these individuals do continue to sustain themselves and their families.
The Baba Oloja General, Amuwo Odofin, Alhaji Bolaji Yusuf pleaded for relocation to another place, saying that if they were ejected outright without alternative, their means of survival would crumble.
He also said that many people, including widows in their thousands relied on the market for their survival, saying that they normally take very good care of the environment and never allowed miscreants into the place.
many people, including widows in their thousands relied on the market for their survival, saying that they normally take very good care of the environment and never allowed miscreants into the place.
The Iya Oloja, Alhaja Osinatu Adebayo said there were about ten markets in the area, saying that they had been trading in the area since 1977, while appealing to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to reconsider relocating the markets as they had been taking good care of the market environment.
Kenedy Dafe and Alhaja Fausat Bankole who are traders then acknowledged the presence of hoodlums in the market but that they had internal security, including arrangements with Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, for the security of the markets to take care of the hoodlums.
The Executive Secretary of Amuwo Odofin Local government, Deaconess Dupe Ojodu, said the markets constituted security threat in the area, adding that the markets were supposed to be on 6th Avenue.
She, however, joined the traders to appeal to the state government not to drive the traders to the street but to provide them with a modern market in the area, saying
“I appeal that the government should move them to a convenient, secure, comfortable and beautiful environment that would not make things difficult for them.”