CSOs tackle Lagos over eviction of plank market traders

Some civil society organisations have condemned the decision of the Lagos State Government to evict traders from the Oko Baba plank market in the Ebute Metta area of the state.

The CSOs, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, and the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation, and Protection, disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by their conveners, Nnimmo Bassey, Akinbode Oluwafemi, and Betty Abah, on Thursday.

They condemned the mode of operation of officials from the Lagos State Building and Control Agency, describing it as a violation of the fundamental rights of the traders.

The groups also claimed that the government had failed to comply with international regulations on housing and had displaced over 5,000 occupants of the market.

The statement read, “The exercises carried out at Oko Baba, which housed Lagos’ largest sawmilling facilities and parts of the Ayetoro community between September 14 and 17, have so far led to the displacement of more than 5,000 residents.

“The evictions have featured truckloads of armed thugs and police personnel moving into the communities at night and early in the morning, razing buildings and other facilities while shooting sporadically at everything and everyone in sight.

“We state categorically that these actions, for which Lagos State now has a grim global record and reputation, remain a clear violation of the human, housing, and socio-economic rights of affected community members.”

The groups decried the government’s failure to adhere to “local and international regulations on housing rights, in terms of adequate notice, relocation, or compensation for the affected residents.”

They therefore urged the government to engage with the community in addressing concerns about the market and to focus on upgrading the slum according to international best practices.

The statement continued, “In all this, the message we get is that the urban poor are clearly excluded from consideration in the building of a mega city as if they have no right to exist, yet they are roundly remembered and sought after at every election time.”

They added that the LASG should halt the eviction and apologise for its actions against the people it was meant to serve.

“We demand that the state government break free from the ugly past of the mass dehumanisation of the urban poor, as witnessed in past demolitions at Maroko, Badiya East, Otodogbame, Ilaje-Bariga, Monkey Village, and several others.

“We demand an apology from the state government for this grievous violation, compensation for the destroyed homes, businesses, schools, shops, and other facilities, and an end to all forms of threats and intimidation of community members,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, the LASG said that its decision to evict the traders was in the best interest of the state.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, in a recent telephone conversation with According to Metro, disclosed that the government had provided a new location for the traders in the Agbowa area of Ikorodu.

He also emphasised that those remaining at the Oko Baba plank market were the ones who refused to relocate to the new market location, which had road networks and accommodation.

“Those who were left at Ebute Metta were those who refused to move. They were illegal occupants of the market before, as there is no document allocating the place to them. The government had only been magnanimous by providing a new place for them.”

Omotoso added that the activities of the traders in the shanties posed a threat to the environment and the aesthetics of the state.

He continued by stressing that the recurring fire incidents in the market also posed a threat to the Third Mainland Bridge, necessitating the government’s action.