Okota, Cele residents lament demolition of stalls

Residents of Cele, Ago, Isolo, Okota and their environs have started feeling the weight of a demolition exercise carried out on some of the makeshift stalls at the Cele Bus Stop, even as such residents, especially those just returning from their respective places of work, have been finding it difficult getting anything to buy from their favourite spots.Some of the residents who spoke with Community News revealed that, despite not being a conventional market, the demolished stalls offered everything they could ever need at relatively cheap costs, and that the demolition would make things difficult for them. Some of the items sold at the demolished stalls included meat, fruits, groceries, general food condiments, among other things.'It is really difficult trying to buy things without the traders around. Given the proximity of the demolished structures to my residence, I didn't have to worry about going to a conventional market to buy my stuff. On alighting at the bus stop, the market offered me an opportunity to buy things that I needed at my convenient pace. It is really a shame that this has happened, but I guess it is a price to pay for not having a shop in a government-approved spot.' Blessing Ilo, a recent at Ago, disclosed.Similarly, when bearing his mind on the development, one of the affected traders, who wouldn't want his name mentioned, insisted that the stalls were the main source of livelihood for many of them, while also adding that he had no money to rent a shop in a conventional market.'Shops are very expensive to come by these days, this is the main reason many of us opted for places like this. I can assure you, nobody likes to be harassed or molested, but at this stage, there is little or nothing any of us can do,' he stated. He, however, shared his optimism that things would be resolved soon.It will be recalled that on Saturday, some makeshift stalls at Cele Bus Stop, on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, were demolished while traders selling things or doing other forms of businesses, such as selling and registering of SIM cards were sacked by some officials of the state's Kick Against Indiscipline unit.
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