Tension Intensifies at Alaba Market 1

 

At the moment, traders at the
Fancy and Furniture Dealers Association Section of the Alaba International Market, Lagos are going through a rough patch. They woke up on Friday, September 18, to see that their market had been shut allegedly on the orders of the President General of Association of Commodity Market Women and Men of Nigeria, Chief Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, who is otherwise called the Iyaloja General of Nigeria. Several outlets in the market were allegedly broken into and goods worth millions of naira looted by the hoodlums.

On Monday, September 21, there was palpable tension in the market. Angry traders were visibly restlessness and were held in check by their leaders. They were particularly irked by what they termed an act of impunity against them.

Recalling how it all started, the Chairman of the Fancy and Furniture Section, Ndubuisi, Chukwuezi said: “At about 1 am on Friday, September 18, I was called by the Chief Security Officer of the market that some area boys were around to seal up the market. I drove down immediately and got there shortly after 2 am and saw our security men all disarmed. No fewer than 50 area boys were seen milling around the market. They came in three buses and sealed up the market with padlocks and chains. Some of them broke into the shops that were in the front section.

“After accomplishing their mission, they pasted a notice titled: ‘Re: Closure of Fancy and Furniture Section of Alaba International Market.’ I invited you to a meeting but you refused to show up. In view of the above, Fancy and furniture section of Alaba International Market thereby (sic) close.’

“When I got to the market area, I parked my vehicle at a reasonable distance and from there I watched the proceedings. Shortly after, they all boarded their buses and left. They took away everything our security men had. It was after they had left that I drew near to have a bigger picture of what happened.

As at Monday, the traders were visible angry and it showed. Despite the simmering anger, they were however law abiding. Explaining how they were able to hold their patience, Chukwuezi said: “I called the Commissioner of Police, the Area Commander and the Divisional Police Office in charge of Ojo and told them what happened. We were directed to reopen the market but to shun any thing that might lead to violence.
“Then yesterday the area boys came again threatening to seal the market. It was the police that ordered us to reopen the market. It was then that we decided the matter had gone too far and we might break our silence.”
Chief John Nwosu, Vice Chairman of Elders Forum of the association, lamented that the disruption had done a lot of damages already. “The people affected get their daily bread from this market. Some of them can not bear this for one hour let alone one day because it means they would not get their daily bread. It is by the grace of God that we have been able to calm such people down thus far.”

Our correspondent gathered that the traders’ losses arising from the closure of the market ran into millions of naira. It was further gathered that soon after the development occurred, news about it went viral. This affected the larger market’s customers who were coming from far and near.

“This morning, people have been calling me from far and near to find out if indeed the market was shut down,” Chief Nwosu stated.

Before the incident our correspondent gathered that the market was relatively calm. It was learnt that the Iyaloja had earlier invited the traders following some perceived internal crisis in the market. A letter to that effect dated July 28, 2015, requested them to show up at noon at 10, Sunday Adigun Street Ikeja. It reads: “A crucial meeting to discuss the progress and way forward in the market with the president general of the association of commodity market women and men of Nigeria.”

Counsel to the caretaker committee of the market, Barrister Chinedu Nwosu, whiling hinting on what might have led to the face-off, said: “While the traders welcome the mediation, the invitation was impromptu and there was no way the executive could all be gathered. So I sent a lawyer from the chamber who went there and requested that the traders be given another date so that they would be well prepared.”

He said the lawyer was denied audience because the Iyaloja General said she would prefer to dialogue with the traders and not their lawyer. He said thereafter, the Iyaloja promised to communicate to the traders. And the next communication was the crisis that took place at 1 am last Friday.

“The hoodlums who came to execute the orders went too far as they were looting and breaking especially shops selling phones and drinks. In all, not less than 18 shops were looted. Traders who came to meet the shocking situation in the morning called the phone number on the sealing order and the person who picked the call identified himself as the Personal Assistant to the Iyaloja. He requested that the traders should come and see the Iyaloja.”

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the distraught traders, Onyekwelu Chukwuemenam, regretted that the most annoying fact was the colossal amount of money the traders had lost since their shops were sealed. He lamented that the association’s 50, 000 members could not trade within the period. “While we don’t want to take the laws into our hands, there is a limit to which you can push a man and he will respond.

“We are a registered association; we pay our taxes to the state and local governments and to the Federal Government too.”

Umeh Michael, owner of one of the looted stores, was still agonising over his loss. “I lost 18 Porsche Blackberry phones, and six I-Phone 5 and  N95, 000 cash.” Each blackberry costs N90,000 while an I-Phone goes for N145,000.”

Another victim, Mercy Akali, said: “They broke my shop and looted everything: wines and spirits totaling N1.6 million. I am begging for assistance to recover my losses,” she lamented, her feelings mirroring the climate of sadness and anger that enveloped the market.

On Monday, September 21, the Executive Secretary of Ojo Local Government Area, Sikiru Lawal, weighed in on the matter to defuse the tension and appealed for calm.

Members of the association contented that Alaba International was not a commodity market, and therefore not under Iyaloja’s oversight. According to Chief Nwosu, “this is an international market, consisting of about 10 sections. Whatever the Iyaloja wanted to do should be with the whole market not with a section. Closing a particular section is like fomenting trouble, because this is the entrance to the market. We don’t have any personal issue with her. Since 1979, the market has been in existence, nobody has come here to terrorise us this way. We pay our dues to the state and local governments. We don’t know about an Iyaloja that suddenly came out overnight to establish her authority.

“If her action was legal, why was it carried out in the night? And why use hoodlums and not the police? The police came in the morning and removed the chains and keys and the next thing she did was to order us to come and see her before we could open the shops. This is impunity!”

However, Chukwuezi expressed confidence that the issues would be resolved without any fracas. “As far as I am concerned, there is no crisis here; it is just a case of somebody wanting to intrude into our market. This is an association. We are duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). We don’t have any mother union. We are not an appendage of any association. And nobody can arm-twist us to accept their authority.

“The situation has not degenerated because I have been able to control my people. God has given us the wisdom to handle it thus far, and I believe we will resolve it soon.”

When our correspondent placed a call to 08038348871, a man answered, saying he was in a public traffic and promised to call back. When he did and our correspondent told him she was calling with respect to the issues at Alaba Market, he promptly switched off his cell phone.