Market women in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, on Wednesday, sent a protest letter to the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, over alleged plans by the council to forcefully eject them or demolish their lockup stores.

The market women who have already threatened to embark on a peaceful protest to Government House Asaba and the State House of Assembly further alleged that the LG was demanding from them payment of N500,000 per store, at a time when the issue was under litigation in the court.

The aggrieved market women, in their protest letter to the governor, urged him to probe the council over the move which, they said, had the end of January 2022 as the deadline.

Speaking with journalists in Warri, a worried trader, Ella Nwankwo, said her mother-in-law, who is a trader in the market, is appealing to “the governor and the leadership of the Delta State House of Assembly to intervene and prevail on the Uvwie LG Chairman, Ramson Onoyake, not to demolish their lockup stores approved to them by the same government over two decades ago.”

When contacted, the Chairman of the LG, Ramson Onoyake, said he would not speak on the issue since “the case is before the Effurun High Court of Justice.”