A tragic incident has occurred in the Alaba Rago market area of Ojo, where a 68-year-old woman known as Alhaja Iyabo, reportedly passed away after losing a substantial sum of money amidst the ongoing demolition of shanties by the Lagos State Government. Alhaja Iyabo, a respected dealer in rice and beans, is said to have suffered a heart ailment upon discovering that her weekend earnings, securely kept in her shop’s safe, had disappeared during the Sunday morning demolition.
The Lagos State Government’s task force issued a removal notice on May 15, urging squatters and occupants of illegal structures in Alaba Rago to vacate immediately. Market leaders, in conversation with our correspondents, expressed concerns that the collective losses incurred by traders could amount to N50 billion, with bags of rice, beans, and livestock among the items lost during the demolition.
Many traders, including Alhaja Iyabo, had stored their weekend sales in safes within the market, intending to deposit the money in banks on Monday. Mallam Ibrahim Hamad Namari, head of the cow dealers in Alaba Rago market, highlighted the lack of prior notice regarding the demolition scheduled for Sunday morning.
CSP Shola Jejeloye, leading the state task force, clarified that the removal notice followed an earlier one issued on May 19, 2022. However, Mallam Namari emphasized that the state task force had only provided a removal notice to a section of the market without specifying a start date for the demolition.
Reflecting on the devastating loss, Namari lamented, ‘After Saturday’s sale, we kept our money in safes in our shops, intending to take it to the bank on Monday. We woke up on Sunday morning to hear about the demolition. By the time we reached the market, everything was gone. It was the shock of losing her money that led to Alhaja Iyabo’s death,’ he said.
Nushubau Ahmad, secretary of the yam dealers, estimated the total losses to be as high as N50 billion.”