Automobile technicians under the auspices of the Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association, Ogun State chapter, have appealed to the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to reconsider the notices to quit given to the members to vacate their workshops along the Berger-Kara bridge.

Fashola who inspected the bridge on August 25, 2021, ordered the technicians to leave, giving them a deadline till November 30.

But the Chairman, NATA, Ojodu-Abiodun unit of Ogun State, Mr Olamide Idowu, told our correspondent that they would leave the location if the government provided an alternative area for them.

He said, “In the past one year, they have been harassing us to leave this site, but we have nowhere else to move to. We were formerly around the Otedola Bridge before the government sent us away. We moved to the opposite end over there, but we were sent away again when the government sold the land, then we moved here. At that time, this place was like a jungle, but we cleared it and managed it properly.

“Mr Fashola said they want to commence construction here; we are pleading with him to provide another location for us. We have about 300 technicians in this place and they shouldn’t relieve us of our source of livelihood. We are not saying the government should not take over this site, but they should provide an alternative place for us to work.”

The General Secretary of NATA, Mr Nurudeen Sonibare, added that the site was temporarily provided by the Ogun State Government and no letter of evacuation had been issued to them so far.

“The Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency gave us this site temporarily; so we are not saying we won’t move. The reason we are still here is because no letter or notification to leave has reached us. Last week, Mr Fashola visited us and said we should leave this site and he gave us a 100-day ultimatum, but we don’t have another place to move to.

“We pay taxes, we are a responsible body; we have trained many youths in this work and developed this area. We take it upon ourselves to secure this space and report vandals to the authorities. It is as if the government is deliberately trying to take us out of business,” he said.

One of the technicians, Femi Olutile, said, “We are appealing to the government; we have nowhere to go to and we don’t want to become hooligans in the streets.”

Another technician, Taiwo Akinyoola, said, “We are family men, some of us have aged parents still depending on us and it is from this work that we find our income. Our reluctance to leave here is because we have no alternative.”

Fashola’s media aide, Mr Hakeem Bello, could not be reached for comment as his phone rang out. A text message sent to him on Thursday had yet to be replied to as of the time of filing this report.