Dr Kayode Fayemi’s government in Ekiti State has commenced enforcement of ban on roadside trading in Ado Ekiti, the State capital.
The enforcement exercise which began very early on Monday at about 6.30am was carried out by the State Environmental Taskforce and a committee set up by the State government on relocation of traders.
The enforcement unit consisted of top government functionaries, representatives of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, the Police, Civil Defense Corps, Peace Corps and the State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA).
Special Adviser to the Governor and Director General of the Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery (OTSD), Prof. Bolaji Aluko explained that the focus is to ensure clean market places and free drains adding that government had provided suitable markets for all categories of traders in the Metropolis.
Prof. Aluko stressed that though the taskforce officials have been directed to be as civil as possible, they have been mandated to also be firm and perform their duties without fear or favour.
Describing the level of compliance by the traders as encouraging, Aluko said that government had succeeded in creating awareness amongst the traders through massive media campaign and immense physical sensitization programme, noting that all the affected roadside traders had been given a very long notice to vacate their illegal structures.
“Well, this is the first day and many of the traders are aware of what we are saying. Today, what we are trying to do is to enforce no stall on drainages, no stall on the street, no stall on the walkways and eventually we will still enforce their going to the markets that they have been relocated to”, Aluko said.
“We are going to have two sets on daily basis. We have divided ourselves into two groups. One from 8am to 2pm and another from 2pm to 7pm and we intend to do this consistently. We will not fight with anybody but every day we will ensure that nobody sells illegally on roadsides again and create avoidable hazards on the roads.
It would be recalled that the Ekiti State Government had announced a ban on roadside trading about two weeks ago and directed all traders without approved stalls to relocate to appropriate markets already provided by government.
The Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Hon. Akin Omole said that the directive was for the safety of the people from avoidable accidents, improve hygiene in market places and to forestall preventable outbreak of diseases.
He stressed that roadside trading is detrimental to the safety of both sellers and buyers, constitutes environmental nuisance and works against the urban renewal and development plan of the State.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
