By Seun Opejobi The Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural organization has urged President Bola Tinubu to wade into the demolition of the A...
By Seun Opejobi
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural organization has urged
President Bola Tinubu to wade into the demolition of the Alaba International
Market in Lagos State.
Ohanaeze urged Tinubu to prevail on Governor Sanwo-Olu of
Lagos State to temper justice with mercy on Igbos in the state.
On Friday, the Lagos State Government began the process of
removing distressed buildings in the Alaba International Market in Ojo Local
Government of the state.
The enforcement team of the Lagos State Building Control
Agency, LASBCA, and the Lagos State Task Force embarked on the joint exercise.
The team, which went round to re-seal several buildings that
had been marked with previous multiple quit seal notices by LASBCA, said the
measure was to prevent disaster.
Reacting, Ohanaeze’s Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro,
warned Igbos in Lagos State to stop playing bad politics.
According to Isiguzoro, bad politics was affecting Igbo
businesses in Lagos.
Speaking with DAILY POST, Isiguzoro said: “We have been
informed that the demolition of some parts of Alaba International Market has
began; most of those who called us said they were given only three hours.
“Most of them complained that they are being witch-hunted
due to the 2023 general elections; they complained that they are systematically
trying to make them leave Lagos by destroying their properties.
“We want to beg Mr President to call Sanwo-Olu that the best
thing to do at this point is to temper justice with mercy. We would not accept
that this is a political witch-hunt or issue threats on the crisis that has
befallen Igbos in Lagos.
“At this moment in time, Igbos should stop politics and
concentrate on what they are looking for in Lagos.
“Ohanaeze has already told Igbos to relocate the
headquarters of their businesses back home to have a fallback position when
politics are targetted against them.
“Our Republicanism should end in the Southeast; they should
not take it to Lagos. Some people threatened Igbos to leave Lagos, but we won’t
leave any part of Nigeria for anybody because we have contributed to the
development and building of economies with every state and local governments in
Nigeria.
“Igbos are Nigerians, so Ohanaeze is saying that the demolition
of Alaba International Market is a wake-up call for Ndigbos to come and invest
in Enyimba economic city.
“Ndigbos should stay in Lagos, but they should stop playing
bad politics because it’s affecting their businesses.
“We supported Sanwo-Olu during the elections, even when
Tinubu lost Lagos, so we urge him to halt further demolition of Alaba and other
Igbo-populated markets as this would make Igbos to continue supporting
Asiwaju’s government and make him to succeed.”
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