Rights group urges Sanwo-Olu to reopen Owode Onirin, Mile 12 markets

The National President of CHSR, Alex Omotehinse, in a statement on Saturday described the closure of the markets as “a misplaced priority.”

Omotehinse said that the reopening would prevent unintended consequences on economic investments and livelihoods of an overwhelming majority of the people.

He said: “We condemn the recent closure of Owode Onirin and Mile 12 International markets by the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab.

“CHSR assert that the closure is coming at the heels of recent actions that negatively affected the livelihoods of millions of Lagos residents is unfortunate and a misplaced priority.

“It should be instructive that the two markets are not only critical to the economic survival of millions of traders across the country but also strategic to the supply of perishable foods and vehicle spare parts in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

According to him, the group is aware that the two markets have, on many occasions in the past, been adjudged as compliant with the maintenance of a clean environment.

He said that this was evidently manifested in the introduction of innovations and infrastructural development that had tremendously improved the standard of the markets.

“We maintain that Lagos State Government in its quest to ensure that all markets maintain cleaning and hygienic environment should not arbitrarily deploy closure of markets as weapons.

“We must also consider that the state environmental agencies have failed to meet up with the expectations of traders in spite of fulfilling the necessary obligation to the agency in charge of waste disposals.

“We are aware that Mile 12 International market has featured as the best maintained perishable foods market in Nigeria, thus serving as example to other similar markets across the country.

“We also wish to reiterate that arbitrary and frequent closure of markets at a time of economic downturn when citizens are barely coping with survival is ill-conceived and counterproductive,” the activist added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Lagos state government on Friday announced the immediate closure of Mile 12 International and Owode Onirin markets for various environmental infractions.