Ogun govt begins relocation of Kara market, Mile 12 traders to Ogere

Ogun govt begins relocation of Kara market, Mile 12 traders to Ogere

The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on Tuesday, intensified the relocation of traders in the cow and ram market at the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as well as traders dislodged by the recent closure of the Mile 12 market in Ketu, Lagos to Ogere.

BH observed stern-looking policemen in more than 10 Hilux vans leading out the evicted traders from the market during a visit to the place on Tuesday.

One of the policemen on duty who did not want his identity said said that they were drafted to the market to forestall possible breakdown of law and order by some aggrieved traders and miscreants.

The process, which commenced on Monday, saw the state government providing the traders with about 300 hectares of land in Ogere.

It would be recalled that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State shut the Mile 12 Market, Ketu, after a clash between the Yoruba and Hausa in the market, which left no fewer than 10 people dead,

The closure of the market left hundreds of trailers loaded with consumable goods and their owners stranded.

The traders later moved to Kara in Ogun State, where they offloaded their goods and joined traders at the Ram Market.

The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, had last Friday stormed the Kara area, telling the traders that the area was not ideal for them and they would be moved to a new place.

The governor also said the traders at the market would be relocated with the Mile 12 traders.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Adejuwon Soyinka, said a new market was ready for the traders.

Soyinka said the market space in the Ogere area of the state, had  been provided with a sleeper road that would ensure that traffic in and out of the complex did not adversely affect the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“In a bid to ensure that the traders do their business in a conducive, secured and healthy environment, Amosun equally ensured that the new market complex is provided with about four boreholes alongside the presence of a stream at the location.”

Amosun, while welcoming the traders to the new location, assured them of his administration’s determination to provide them a modern market fitted with a fire service station, modern stalls, a police station, as well as other services.

Amosun said the decision to relocate the traders to the present location at Ogere had been taken since 2012.