Traders in the popular Ladipo auto parts market
closed down, yesterday, by Lagos State Government on Monday have started
counting their losses, saying they are losing at least N100 billion daily.
Traders lamented that they were already feeling the pains of the closure as
they could no longer meet their obligations to their families.
Speaking, Secretary of the
Aguiyi Ironsi Traders Union, Mr. Christain Igbaunam told Vanguard that his
members would be losing over N100billions per day to the closure and lamented
that efforts to meet with the Lagos State Task force on Environmental and
Special Offenses (Enforcement) Units, to negotiate the opening of the market
had proved abortive.
He said: “We have over 15,00
registered members. Individual members make not less than N10 million daily. On
the average, members will be losing over N100billions on a daily basis to the
closure of the market.” He denied allegations that their security guards
arrested were armed robbers, saying “those allegations made against our
security guards are false. They were not armed with guns and were not against
the state officials. They were only misunderstood.
These are security guards put
in place by the association to arrest criminal activities in the market. I am
pleading for their release.” A trader who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
“whenever I offload my containers, I make not less than 15millions. Just
imagine what I will be losing now that the market has been shut.”
Another who gave his name as
Jude Tobechukwu, pleaded for the re-opening of the market, saying “we are
losing billions of Naira to the closure of this market. Today’s (yesterday) is
the second day that we have been shut out. I have lost over N10 millions since
the closure. That is a huge sum of money even those in government do not want
to lose.”
One Okolie Amadi, claimed his wife was in the hospital for a
kidney transplant, lamenting that “I was hoping to use this week to look for
money for the transplant. My wife is lying helpless in the hospital awaiting a
kidney transplant due to lack of money. I came to the market to see if I can
raise some money for her operations only to see that armed mobile police men
have barricaded the entrance to the market. I am pleading to the state
government to have piety on us.”
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