The Lagos State Government on Sunday said traders at the Alade Market in the Ikeja area of the state would get 60 more days to relocate from the market to a new place built for them.
The Executive Secretary of the Ikeja Local Government Area, Adekunle Adeokun, during a press briefing on Sunday, said the decision was arrived at by stakeholders in the market during a meeting at the council secretariat in Ikeja.
He added that a 16-man committee had been inaugurated to ensure the successful relocation of the traders to their new place.
He said, “The concessionaire of the market and the different associations in the market had agreed to the new development. All parties agreed to relocate from the market by October.”
Adeokun noted that some persons in the market had been identified as squatters in the markets, adding that such people might find it difficult to fit into the new arrangement.
He said, “The concerned persons are not owners of shops in the market. They simply rent shops from the shop owners. So, their cases are different and they cannot stop us from redeveloping the Alade Market.
“We have waited for five years. We agreed to build 200 more shops to accommodate all legal traders in the alternative market. We plan to reconstruct two roads to avoid traffic congestion in the area within the timeframe. We have agreed to build a bridge that will enable customer and traders to enter and exit the market from the Oregun Road.”
He said the 16-man committee would be headed by the council’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Oluranti Olufon.
“The committee comprises six members from the market, five from the council and five from the concessionaire,” he added.
The Managing Director of Master Reality Int’l Concepts Limited (the concessionaire), Mr. Lai Omotola, said the 60-day extension for the relocation of all the traders given by the government would elapse on October 7, adding that “all the traders, except some squatters, had agreed to the plan.”
Omotola added that the Iyaloja-General of the Association of Market Women and Men, Mrs. Shade Tinubu-Ojo, had held a meeting with the traders and the concessionaire and they all agreed unanimously to the new date.
