Nigerian traders accuse Ogun government of demolishing market without notice, with losses exceeding 500 million naira.

Written by: Ayman Ragab

Traders in the Muwoye/Ofada market in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria, have accused the state government of carrying out a sudden demolition of the market without any prior notice, stating that goods worth over 500 million naira were destroyed during the operation.

Traders said that the demolition work was carried out around 2 a.m. on Friday, before they arrived at the market to start their daily activities, which resulted in significant losses to their properties and goods.

Demolition without notice

During a field tour of the demolished market, one of the affected traders, Kabira Aigbobi, said that the authorities did not issue any official notification before carrying out the demolition. She pointed out that officials from the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning visited the market in 2023 with the aim of removing the buildings, but they backed down after traders informed them that they had paid their rents due to the local authority.

She added, “We did not receive any notice of demolition. We arrived this morning to find all the stalls removed, and goods worth over 500 million naira destroyed.”

Ignore the plight of hundreds of merchants

And Ajiboye criticized the way the operation was carried out, considering that the authorities ignored the conditions of hundreds of merchants who depend on the market as their main source of income, and said that they should have been given an opportunity to remove their goods before the stores were demolished.

She also indicated that a number of traders received loans to finance their businesses, emphasizing that the demolition left them in difficult financial situations and created uncertainty about the future of their livelihoods. She called on the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, to intervene and provide an alternative location that would allow them to resume their commercial activities.
For his part, the Commissioner of Physical and Urban Planning for Ogun State, Tunji Odunlami, refused to comment on the demolition allegations, while the state government has not issued any official statement regarding the incident as of the time of this report.