Oshodi market demolition: “It’s not the end of my life” – trader tells Ambode

“We have certificates of occupancy for four shops in this market and the government came here and took them away…just like that.”

Many Lagos traders dislodged from Owonifari Market in Oshodi are obviously not happy with governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The governor said he demolished the 38-year-old market to give Lagos residents something better, and to make Oshodi safer.

Some minutes before 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 6, a government bulldozer invaded the market and reduced it to rubble.

The “fear” was that may people may refuse to leave the market if it was demolished during daylight.

“It’s not the end of my life,” Emmanuel, a Yoruba trader who spoke with NewsroomNG after the demolition told us to tell Ambode.

Emmanuel said he was a kid when his father purchased four shops inside the market.

“I grew up to manage the shops and to do my own business,” he told NewsroomNG.

“We were the rightful owners of those shops but the government has removed us from our own place and given us a market we are afraid could collapse.

“I thank God I’m still alive and I know that the downfall of a man is not the end of my life,” he said.

The traders were relocated to Oshodi resettlement market but many said they fear the place could collapse again.

Four workers were reported killed when the structure, formerly called Isopakodowo market, caved in while being constructed in 2010..