By ADEKUNLE WILLIAMS

Some traders from Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market in Lagos State protested at the state House of Assembly on Thursday against the demolition of 500 shops in their market.

Speaking for the protesters, the association?s chairman, Mr Hammed Abiodun, described the market as a vital hub providing spare parts and sustaining the livelihoods of numerous families and traders.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that traders carried placards with messages like: ?IGP, tell Police to stay away from land matters? and ?Obasa, stand up for Owode traders.?

Abiodun urged Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene and halt further actions threatening the livelihoods of thousands of families who depend on the market.

He also called for a thorough investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible for what he described as the illegal demolition of Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market.

He said traders had always been law-abiding, operating peacefully and conducting their businesses in an orderly and legal manner for many years.

?On Thursday, March 6, officers of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, armed policemen, and thugs with dangerous weapons invaded the market,? Abiodun alleged.

He claimed they were enforcing a court judgment against Agbajowo Market, which shares a boundary with Owode-Onirin, in spite of the market belonging to the Lagos State Government.

?There is no court injunction, nor do we have any legal dispute with any family or individuals,? he insisted, calling the demolition unjustified and unlawful.

?When officials of LABSCA arrived with excavators, they beat us and began demolishing our shops without any prior notice,? he alleged.

He said traders received no notice to vacate or remove their goods, appealing to President Bola Tinubu and the Lagos State governor to intervene immediately.

Alex Omotehinse, President of the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR), described the demolition as an illegal act designed to impoverish struggling traders.

Omotehinse condemned what he called a brazen act of land grabbing, arguing that it violated property rights and posed a threat to the state?s economic stability.

He urged authorities to compensate affected traders, ensuring they were not left without means to sustain their businesses and livelihoods.

A trader, Mr Samuel Oluwole, stated that market traders were law-abiding citizens who promptly paid their taxes to the Lagos State Government.

?We are taxpayers. We pay our taxes as required. Every shop, including places of worship, was demolished.

?We plead with the Lagos State Government to rescue us from intimidation and persecution,? he added, urging authorities to halt further demolitions.

Addressing the protesters, Lagos Mainland Constituency II lawmaker, Mr Adebola Shabi, commended them for conducting a peaceful demonstration.

Shabi assured them that Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and other House members sympathised with their plight and would take necessary action.

?This is your House, and you will get justice. The Assembly believes in fairness,? he said, promising a thorough investigation into the matter.

?The House will summon all stakeholders once the Assembly resumes fully. This issue will not be ignored but will receive an accelerated hearing,? he assured. (NAN)

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