Lagos Traders Protest Continued Closure Of Shops

Traders on Breadfruit and Davis streets in Balogun Market, Lagos Island, where some warehouses were gutted by fire in October 2012, on Monday protested the continued closure of the streets.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the streets were closed by the state government.

The two streets and some nearby ones are still cordoned off and monitored by armed policemen deployed there since the incident.

The peaceful protesters marched from the streets to Broad Street, also on Lagos Island. They carried placards with inscriptions that appealed to the state government to re-open business on the streets.

The leader of the protesters and chairman, Island Fashion Dealers Association, Mr. Arinze Ugonabo, told NAN that the continued closure of the streets was not justifiable.

He said that many of the shops on the affected streets were situated far from the burnt warehouses.

“What we expected was for government to come to our rescue by assisting us rather than stopping us from trading in the area.

“The shops are over a thousand and have remained under lock and key as policemen, acting under government directives, have prevented our people from displaying their wares,” he said.

He said that the association’s letters to the relevant authorities to reopen the streets had yet to yield positive results. “We sincerely appeal to the state government to consider our plight and urgently reopen the streets for market activities,” he urged.

Also speaking, Mrs. Mojisola Ibrahim, the Chairperson of the Breadfruit Traders Association, said that the protest was informed by hunger and inability to meet their financial responsibilities.

“Our children are at home because we cannot afford to pay their school fees.

“Some of us can’t pay our rents anymore; we sincerely hope that the government will see our predicament.

“The fire incident took place four months ago. In other climes the affected warehouses would have been brought down few weeks after the incident,” she said.

According to her, the state is losing much money as taxes due to the continued closure of the streets.