According to the market leader, Mrs. Folashade Salako, who led other traders on a peaceful protest to submit a letter, seeking the intervention of Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy into the matter, said the Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji Sunday market is clearly demarcated from Ogba Retail market and it has been serving as better life for rural dwellers, a purpose it was established for since 1989.Nwode alleged that the local government chairman had concluded plans to evict them from the market and turn it to a car park for Ogba Retail market “without considering the traders who feed their children through their businesses in the market.”She also alleged that the local government chairman frustrated the effort of FADAMA in conjunction with World Bank to build the market for the traders for free which they have agreed to.
In her words, “about three years, at Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, we were told that FADAMA wanted to build the market, and we accepted because it will be free based on what commissioner told us at that time. But we were told that it will be done after elections, so that market women can support the government and after the election, we were still waiting for FADAMA before they called us last week at the Ojodu LCDA.“The chairman told us that FADAMA has gone, that he wants one Mr. Kehinde Fajana, a developer who built that Ogba Retail market to come and build the place for us. We let him know that Ogba Retail market has been mortgaged for 25 years, so we don’t want something of such,” she said.“Since this market was commissioned on July 2nd, 1989 by Mrs Mariam Babangida, it attracts traders from various local government in the state like Epe, Ikorodu, Agege, Lagos Island, many of them, and we have the tents for each local government, so we don’t have any problem,” she added.
