The demolition of a part of the Egor Market in Benin City Edo State on Tuesday elicited mixed feeling as many traders who chose to ignore the state government’s seven-day notice to vacate their stalls built under a 132kv high-tension powerlines which caught fire last week broke down in tears and scampering to salvage their wares as the bulldozer moved in.
Their fellow traders who heeded the directive however commended the government for the decision to demolish all illegal structures, eave extensions and caravans erected under the electrical powerlines.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that the demolition exercise targeted eave extensions, illegal structures, and stalls located directly under the powerline within the market and its environs.
Passions were ignited at the scene as some stall owners wept bitterly, complaining that the government did not give them enough time to evacuate their goods and property, while many others commended the government’s action.
One of the affected traders, Lisa Iredia, admitted that the traders were given a seven-day notice before the exercise and that most of them complied with the government directive.
Another trader, Mrs. Grace Odion, commended the government for the demolition, saying the exercise was necessary to save lives.
Speaking to newsmen after the exercise, the Managing Director of the Edo State Development and Building Control Agency (ESDBCA), Mr. Darlington Igabali insisted that the traders were adequately informed before the demolition.
Igabali said, “We are executing the directive for the immediate evacuation of all illegal structures and activities along the powerline right-of-way.”
According to him, the affected traders made the job easier for his team, as many had already removed a substantial part of their structures before the officials arrived.
Explaining that the demolished stalls belonged to traders who refused to comply with earlier directives, the agency’s MD emphasised that no goods were destroyed during the exercise.
Igabali said, “We gave them time to remove all that belonged to them. We made it humanly possible for them to do so before the demolition.”
