Nigeria, March 7, 2016 – The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to put machinery in motion for the relocation of the Mile 12 Market to forestall a re-occurrence of the Hausa/Yoruba fracas.
Several people were killed and maimed last week in the heat of the crisis with several buildings torched.
The resolution followed a motion moved by a member of the House, Jude Idimogu under matters of urgent Public Importance, saying the incident was unfortunate, barbaric and should be avoided.
After the incident that led to death of not less than six persons, Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, had noted during a meeting with all stakeholders held at the State Secretariat, Alausa, that all the leaders agreed on the need to cohabit in peace irrespective of their religion, culture or tribes.
Bello who presided over the meeting urged the leaders to go back and assure their people to maintain the peace, stating that the State Government would consider the inputs of all those present in arriving at a decision.
Addressing the leaders which included those of the various sections of the Mile 12 market, traditional rulers from Agiliti, Maidan, leaders of the transport unions, commercial motorcyclists, community development associations and leaders from the communities, Bello said leaders also agreed to go back to their communities and assure their people of government’s desire to ensure that lasting peace reigns in the market.
In its resolve, the Assembly consequently called on the Governor to relocate Mile 12 and Owode Onirin Markets to another location after conducting necessary feasibility studies and when accompanying infrastructures must have been provided.
While commiserating with the family of those who lost their lives in the incident, the House condemned the killings and the attitude of soldiers stationed at the market, but failed to nip in the bud the mayhem before snowballing to a more deadly violence.
The House also called on the Governor to constitute a high-powered committee on enquiry to investigate the crisis and punish the perpetrators.
The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru had earlier said that the incident was a result of disagreement amongst brothers, adding that the state government should summon courage and come up with a political will on the issue.
“Soldiers have been stationed at the market since 1999, yet they have not been able to solve the problem. There is a police station there, what did the DPO do, when the incident occurred?” Obasa queried.
“It is a market without structure, we can move the market to another place if we can provide an alternative. We should look at a new planning, we cannot have such a market at the centre of a megacity,” he said.
He reiterated that the matter should be investigated and that the culprits should be brought to book, and that the military men stationed at the market should be investigated since they could not do anything about the matter before it would go out of hand, while also suggesting provisions of CCTV in markets.
In his comment, Gbolahan Yishawu suggested that the matter should be properly investigated to avoid a -re-occurrence rather than just relocating the market. Segun Olulade representing Epe II stressed that lives are lost on regular basis whenever there is crisis in the market.
“We as lawmakers are representatives of the people of Lagos State. The responsibility of any government should go beyond sentiment and our focus should not be on Mile 12 alone, Owode Onirin is another market that should be moved. It is time we move Mile 12 away from its present site. Also, there is a law in the state that says all markets should close by 6pm but this law is not adhered to. Mile 12 should be moved and in moving it, markets like Ejinrin and Odo Irangunshin should be considered,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, . Wasiu Sanni Eshinlokun stressed that the market was not well organized and that a visit to the place would revealed that it is not a conventional market.
On his part, Tunde Braimoh who is representing Kosofe II differed on the issue of relocating the market. According to him, “it was a hydra-headed issue, moving the market may not solve the issue. I want to suggest that we call come up with a committee to find out what actually happened.”
