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The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has declared Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, of Lagos as the number one enemy of Ndigbo, after he ordered the demolishion of the Oshodi market mostly occupied by Igbo traders when most of them were still celebrating the Yuletide in their villages
Speaking at a press conference in Enugu on Monday, National President of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, alongside the National Secretary, Okwu Nnabuike, said Ambode had drawn a battle line between himself and the entire Igbo land by the demolition.
Isiguzoro said:
“It is instructive to observe here that contrary to all principles of common justice, the traders were merely given few days quit notice. It is equally shocking that the government chose such a wrong time for the demolition exercise, thereby not only taking the shops from them but making sure that their wares were looted.
“We are forced to ask: could this be the starting point in implementing Oba of Lagos’s earlier threat during the election period that Ndigbo would be thrown into the Lagoon? Could it be another round of deportation of exercise, similar to what former governor Fashola did? These appear to be so considering that a witch cried in the night and a child died in the morning.”
The group demanded adequate compensation of traders who had suffered great losses as a result of the demolition, stressing that “it is quite inhuman for people’s means of livelihood to be taken away from them in such a manner.”
Isiguzoro also said that the state government’s claim that arms were recovered from that section of the market is neither here nor there, “because it cannot be a reason for such a wicked treatment purely targeted on a particular people.
“We demand that the Governor of Lagos State should direct relevant government agencies to adequately compensate these traders; anything short of that, Ndigbo will henceforth regard the Governor as their number one arch-enemy”, he added.
The OYC’s statement comes few hours after the umbrella body of Executive Secretaries of local governments and local council development areas in Lagos State under the auspices of Conference 57 faulted those castigating Ambode for the demolition, and insisted that the action was a positive step geared towards development and progress.
Chairman of the body, Hon. Alabi Kolade David, said that “what the Governor has done is a wonderful thing as it will ease off a lot of things in Oshodi. Those people that are saying negative things about the Governor are the people that do not want Lagos to transform into the megacity that we are all yearning for.
“That place is an international gateway to Nigeria. It is the face of Lagos and face of Nigeria because Lagos represents Nigeria. If we want development for Nigeria, if we want development for Lagos and if we want to be put in our rightful position, that market must be demolished”