Market women resist removal of Illegal structures in Ondo.


Some market women on Tuesday protested against the removal all illegal structures at the Igbokoda International Market in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo state.


Government officials had embarked on removal of illegal structures in the market to ensure sanity.


The women in their hundreds said they were not properly notified.


They undressed to vent their anger against government officials.


 But the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Agency for Commerce, Industries and Cooperative Services, Mr Sunday Lebi,warned that government would not tolerate the act where some people would disrupt government officials from carrying out their duty.


 He said that the officials were prevented by some market women who undressed in protest and started raining abusive words on them. 


Lebi said that the agency had the mandate of making the market functional to enable it generate income into government’s coffer.

“It is an aberration for anyone to erect additional structure which stands as obstruction to human and vehicular movement.

“We went there to ensure sanity, having had talk with them before the day and similar exercise had been carried out in some markets across the state.


“Illegal structures destroy aesthetics value and orderliness of the market and they are dangerous to lives because vehicles do go in and come out.”

He, however, said government would continue to employ diplomatic and realistic approach to address the situation to ensure sanity in every state-owned market.