Date: 2018-03-10

Scores of traders at Baboko Market, popularly called Oja Tuntun, in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Friday peacefully protested against the alleged plan by the Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area, Mrs. Romoke Omodara, to demolish their shops.

The protesters chanted and displayed placards with inscriptions that included: ‘No more tribalism in Oja Tuntu'; 'Omodara, Saraki did not put you there to destroy but to serve'; and 'Saraki did not ask you to pull down our shops, Omodara.'

One of the officials of the market union, Mr. Ayinlara Kehinde, in an interview with journalists, stated that while they were not against development, new shops should be provided for them before the current ones were demolished.

He also said it was improper for the local government to plan to build shops at the car park in the market without providing another car park for them.

He also accused the leadership of the local government area of imposing fines on the traders, claiming that they had been providing security and cleaning the market by themselves despite paying for such services.

Kehinde said, "We are protesting against imposition in our market from the Ilorin West Local Government Area Chairperson, Mrs. Omodara. She said she would demolish some shops but we said you cannot demolish those shops except you provide other ones for the owners. Shops had been demolished in the past without any compensation given to the owners."

Efforts by our correspondent to get Omodara to comment on the issues were unsuccessful as she neither picked up telephone calls nor respond to our correspondent's text message.