Displaced traders from demolished Lagos market seek compensation
Displaced traders from Maboreje Market on Lagos Island have appealed to the Lagos State Government for compensation following the demolition of their shops during a recent exercise in the market.
City Round gathered that the market was demolished in November 2024 by the state government, a month after Pelewura Market, close to Maboreje in the Adeniji-Adele axis, was also demolished.
On August 31, 2024, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media, Jubril Gawat, announced that the demolition exercise would be accompanied by compensation payments to traders.
Gawat, on his X account, explained that the action was necessary to align the market area with the state’s urban development plans.
However, several months after the demolition of Maboreje Market, some shop owners lamented that Babajide Sanwo-Olu had not compensated them for the loss of their shops.
One of the shop owners affected by the demolition was an aged woman, Mrs Sekinat Jolaosho, who has now relocated to Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Her son, Mr Olasunkanmi Adejare, who spoke with City Round, disclosed that although he submitted the letter of allocation to his mother’s shop and other requirements to the Lagos Island Local Government Area office, no one has reached out to them since then.
“On November 3, Maboreje Market was demolished without any notice or compensation. When this thing happened and it affected my mum, who is about 70 years old, I contacted the chairman of the Lagos Island Local Government through WhatsApp and asked about the compensation promised by the governor.
“He directed me to contact the market master, one Mr Kazeem Dada. I went to his office but I didn’t meet him. I called him on the phone to tell him that there were so many people from Pelewura Market who weren’t compensated. Now that Maboreje has been demolished, my mum has been affected, but he told me they are working on it. But from that November till now, nobody in that market has been compensated,” Adejare said.
In a letter addressed to Sanwo-Olu, dated January 2, 2025, a copy of which was sent to our correspondent, Adejare stated that thousands of individuals were plunged “into total disarray and further economic hardship” due to the absence of compensation following the demolition of their shops.
He also urged the governor to use his good office to ensure that his mother is “adequately compensated because the demolished shop is her only source of income.”
Another shop owner, Kehinde Olusi, lamented that no prior notice was given before the demolition. He added that although the chairman of the LGA had repeatedly assured them of compensation, nothing had materialised.
“For now, they don’t even listen to us again; they just shut us out, and there’s nothing we can do. Nobody has collected a dime as compensation in Maboreje Market.
“The governor had said before any market was demolished, the owners would be compensated with N1m, third party ownership will be compensated with N500,00,0 and the occupant of the shop will be compensated with N250,000,” Olusi added.
Efforts to reach the Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Area, Adetoyese Olusi, were unsuccessful, as calls to his phone went unanswered and a text message sent to him had not received a response as of the time of filing this report.
Similarly, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, did not respond to a call placed to his line and had yet to reply to a message requesting comments.
