ABEOKUTA Popular Panseke Market Sealed By Ogun State Government Over Environmental Infractions, Traders Allege N2.5 Million Fine Slammed, Blame Emergency Traders For Street Trading

By: Israel Adeleke

Traders in the popular Panseke market in Abeokuta woke up to see the market already sealed and red-tapped by the Ogun state government on Monday over street trading infractions.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Environment and Chairman of the Taskforce on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, Farooq Akintunde, revealed that the market was sealed after several warnings to the traders to desist from displaying their goods on the walk ways, careless occupation of roadsides, thereby constituting Environmental nuisance to other road users.

Akintunde maintained that while street trading endangers and creates inconvenience for road users, traders at Panseke market have made displays of their goods their regular way of life and stock in trade.

“Panseke Market is a notorious market that has been disregarding all laws and regulations. We conducted a lot of sensitisation, held stakeholder meetings between the ministry and the heads of the market, and warned and made them understand the reason why they should not trade on the road.", the Senior Special Adviser to the State Governor said.

Akintunde further added that:“They have made use of all the drainages,and as a result of that, all the dirt from the market plunged into the drains and that brought about flood.”

When OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News visited the sealed market on Monday, the traders were having a meeting to deliberate on the way forward after the development.

However, one source among the traders told OTN News that the market has been fined and asked to pay N2.5 million before it could be re-opened.

Some of the traders also alleged that their goods were seized by officials of the Ogun State Environmental Task Force on Monday.

According to the source:“So they said we are going to pay N2.5 million before they open the market for us. So, as it is now, we don’t even know when this will end; it’s like the market leaders are trying to negotiate with them to see if they can bring the price down. They even seized some people’s wares this morning.”

In a swift response to the allegation of levying the traders to pay N2.5 million fine, Akintunde said no fine was levied on the market and assured that the market would be re-opened as soon as the traders are ready to abide by the law.

 Speaking on the seized goods, he lamented that despite sealing the market, some of those traders still went ahead to display their goods on Monday, hence the seizures.

“That is a fallacy and absolute damage of character; we have been sealing different markets across Ogun State, and I don’t remember once where a market had been fined even up to N500,000. Nobody is even talking of penalties for now.

“A mallam selling yam and a meat seller, on seeing the caution tape, still went ahead to display their market but as I speak to you, the items have been returned to the owners so there is nothing with the ministry again.

“ The issue of penalty is not the first to come up; when they show up, we sit down with them to analyse what is on ground and if they are ready to abide by the laws, we make them sign an undertaking that they will not engage in street trading again.

“If the government deems it fit to impose any fine on them, that is subject to government decision but in most cases, we don’t do that because the market belongs to all of us,” he added.

Giving further insights into the situation at the marker, another trader told OTN News that the biting economic hardship in the country is responsible for the influx of many emergency traders who actually do not have any shop,stall or space inside the market but also usually come to the market to hustle for a living, claiming that those people are mostly the traders found of displaying their goods on the drainages, walk ways and even the roadsides.

"Those emergency traders are the people mostly guilty of street trading here at Panseke. They come here to hustle, too, especially, in the evenings and on weekends. The country is hard now. They are not part of us, so to say, but they are emergency traders struggling for survival. begged the government to help open the market, saying they are struggling to fend for themselves.", the trader revealed.

"Government should have mercy on us here. They should profer permanent solution to this street trading menace by putting Special Market Task Force and enforcement agents here permanently, even if they have to run on shifts, instead of coming here periodically and shutting down our own means of livelihood."

"Carry your camera, come and see the drainages in front of our market here. They are clean now. Go and see the drainage in front of the skating ground at Panseke. That one is very dirty. Almost filled to the top with debris. Haba! Help us o", the trader protested.