Displaced traders in a high tension line in Akilo, Agege area of Lagos are fuming over the action of the council and the state Ministry of Transportation which erected shops in the same place for sale. FATTEH HAMID writes.
January 6, 2022, remains an unforgettable day for shop owners and residents of Mechanic Village, Akilo, Agege area of Lagos State.That day, caterpillars rumbled and destroyed shops and houses. The exercise was witnessed by heavily armed security agents who came in armoured tanks to carry out a purported order to eject traders and occupants of makeshift abodes under the high tension line.
But a few months after the exercise, shops have sprung up in the same location with staggering amounts for their purchase. They are at prices that the former occupants cannot afford to lease let alone buy them.
One of the affected traders, Mrs Florence Lasisi, otherwise known as Iya Tunmise among her colleagues, lamented her current state after the demolition of her shop.
She said that the day was an unforgettable one as all they laboured for were destroyed and they couldn’t do anything.Lasisi said, “The security agents were armed with guns. They also parked an armoured tank by the roadside with a stern warning that anyone who disrupted the exercise would be arrested and taken away.’’
She told our correspondent that though there were shops erected under the high tension line, hers and those belonging to some others weren’t under the high tension line.
She stated, “I had a shop and store there. I was ill and away for five months before returning to business this year. When I returned, I restock my shop and store of different goods ranging from rice, elubo to garri, which I bought from Saki, Oyo State, Agege, Lagos and Mowe, Ogun State. Many of my goods were destroyed during the demolition as I didn’t have the strength to carry many of them.’’
Lasisi disclosed that she was only able to salvage her refrigerator and some packs of soft drinks with the help of her worker who quickly secured a minivan. She stated, “I don’t do petty trades. There is no one that doesn’t know me in the area. But look at me now. I’ve been brought to zero level.’’
She claimed that there was no prior notice before the demolition, adding that, ‘‘They brought down the entire place in 30 minutes. It was someone who ran to inform us that there was demolition in the area. Before we knew it, they already got to our place and within seconds, what I laboured for years came down right in front of me.”She noted that the government didn’t do well with its action, noting that they should have been pre-informed regarding the demolition.
Lasisi said, “After they demolished the shops and houses, the entire area was closed. However, we realised later that the government started building shops in the same area where the old structures were demolished. They later said the shops ranged between N3.5 million and six million depending on the size and location in the place. Look at me and what I am doing. If I have six million naira, would I be here? If not for the Academic Staff Union of Universities being on strike, my children would have dropped out of school. With the little thing that I now do, I pay my children’s tuition fees, rent, and other things.’’
She noted that about three old people had died from shock after the demolition.
She said, “It is only a few young ones among us who are trying to manage ourselves. The elderly couldn’t handle the shock that came with the development. We are not saying that the exercise caused their death but it could be a contributor to it. There is a man in his 70s popularly called Baba Turner. His machines were destroyed and scavengers have almost looted the remnants.”
Lasisi, however, pleaded with the Lagos State government to come to their aid, urging the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to assist them.She said, “We appeal to the state government to help us. They should build shops where we can pay daily rents or buy shops at cheap rates. It’s a pity that they demolished structures formerly in the place and built new shops for sale there.”
She lamented that their means of livelihoods had been taken away from them.
She said, “We don’t want our children to become louts and that is why we are in business to fend for them. But if the financial means are taken away from us, there’s no way we can take care of them. We beg the Federal Government to come to our aid. We have been cheated and helpless. What we do easily before has now become difficult.’’
She stated that governments at any level should not be for some selected people but for every citizen regardless of age, status and gender.She added, “In 2023, we will be asked to vote for them again, do they deserve our votes with the way they treated us? As things are now, we can’t fend for our children who are the future of this country.’’
Another victim who is a mechanic, Francis Oweh, decried his inability to work since the demolition of the shops. He stated, “I have been loafing around without a specific work to do. One can imagine how they started building shops under the same high tension line they drove us away from. They have now been asking people to pay exorbitant amounts for the shops.”
He wondered why they constructed new structures on the same spot where they drove away the former occupants. Oweh said, “There’s a suspicious activity going on here. The state government needs to come to our rescue. Where do they expect us to get the huge money when what we have had been damaged through the demolition.’’
A businesswoman, identified only as Mrs Obi, explained that she underwent excruciating pain as a result of the demolition. She said, “We weren’t around when the shops were demolished. We travelled to our village only to return and see that everywhere was grounded. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Commenting about her loss, she stated, “If not for the fact that some of my boys were around when the demolition took place, I wouldn’t be able to get anything out of my shop. I can’t say exactly the total amount of goods lost but it’s huge. I don’t want to remember the experience. It was pathetic and still brings tears to my eyes anytime I remember it.’’
She also stated that if the new shops were affordable, it would have been a good one for them to also purchase parts of them. She said, “We can’t fight the government. They are the ones with power and we are powerless against them. They are the ones building the shops for lease or sale.’’
Another victim, identified only as Hawau, who said her husband’s house was demolished, cried bitterly as she and her brothers narrated their ordeal to our correspondent. She said, “There were 24 rooms in the house. They demolished everything. My husband who owns the house is blind and the house was left for him by his father to cater for his family.”She said that after the house was demolished, they started managing in a small shade at least to sleep at night. She stated, “They destroyed our property without mercy. Our chairs were damaged during the demolition. Now, the little space we are managing, they ordered us to vacate the place because it had been sold. Where do we start from?”
Hawau further stated that after the demolition, they were not compensated for the loss. She added, “There was a woman who died because of excess worry after her shop was demolished. She was buried on Friday. What they did to us is not good and we urge the Federal government to come to our rescue.”
A painter, Opeyemi Yusuf, who said he sustained injury during the exercise, still nurses the wound in his leg. He narrated, “When the demolition started, we tried to pack out some of our property and tools, then I struck my leg on a big wood and since then, I have been nursing the wound.’’
He also stated that losing customers without anyone to help him was enough reason to make him worried.
Yusuf said, “I can barely feed myself not to talk of getting the necessary medicine or treatment for the injured leg. Now, imagine a person who can’t even take care of his injured legs struggling to get enough money to pay for the huge money being demanded for the new shops.’’
He further stated that despite safeguarding some of his tools, they were stolen by scavengers.
A panel beater who works in the mechanic village in the area, Adeniyi Adejimi, otherwise called Oga Oga said he and his colleagues started using the mechanic village in 1977.
He noted, “Look at the years we have been here and some people just woke up one day and decided to destroy everything? After demolishing the entire place, they came weeks later to start erecting their own structures. I know that in Lagos State power lines serve as mechanic villages.”
Adejimi wondered where he and others would get the huge amount to rent a small portion to continue their business.
He said, “What I lost in total due to my tools was worth over N800, 000. Some of the tools mounted on the ground which I have been using for some years were all destroyed.’’
He explained that the government should have compensated the victims of the demolition before embarking on the project. Adejimi added, “God should not let us be in a situation to beg. I was born in 1947 and as old as I am, where will I see such money? Yearly, we pay N48, 000 for trade permit and despite that, they still went ahead to demolish the place.’’
The Vice Chairman of the Mechanic Village, Mr Sheu Akinyele, noted that from their findings, the Lagos State Government was not involved in the demolition of the mechanic village, adding that it was carried out by the Agege Local Government. He said, “We can only appeal to Lagos State Government to help look into the issue and ensure that we are vindicated. We duly paid the annual trade permit.’
“They said they didn’t want a structure and everyone considers that and uses only pans, asbestos and sheds. Now, after demolishing our shops, they are erecting the same structures they said they didn’t want. As if that is not enough, they are also now putting them on sale for between N5m and N6m. Where do they want us to get such an amount of money from as artisans? How much do we make monthly to be able to afford that? It is sheer injustice.’’
-Government reacts-
Contacted for his comment on the matter, Spokesperson for the Chairman, Agege Local Government, Mr Rotimi Sulyman, noted that the portion being sold to mechanics was probably demarcated by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation.
He said, “The Ministry of Transportation is in charge of allocating every land that is under the power line in the state so the LG doesn’t know anything about that.”
He stated further that there were no plans for any shops to be erected in the other areas being green areas. He said, “I do not know about the construction of any shops there at the moment.’’
Our correspondent who visited the site of the demolition observed that locked-up shops had been built on the supposed green areas and a board parading mobiles for inquiries erected in the area.One Mr Taofeek Oladimeji picked one of the mobiles and explained the process when told the enquiry was about the locked-up shops.
He said, “We want to sell the shops. The ones at the front are N4m each while the ones facing Oshideyin Street and the ones at the back of it costs N3.5m each.’’
Also, the state Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said he wouldn’t comment on the issue, referring our correspondent to the ministry’s spokesperson.
But the spokesperson, Mrs Bolanle Ogunlola, when contacted said she would speak to our correspondent on the matter. She had yet to pick several calls made to her mobile as of press time.
Efforts to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, were futile as he didn’t pick calls made to his mobile nor replied to the text message sent.