…As CHRSJ kicks,set to get Justice for the downtrodden Traders
…Condemns diabolical Plan of notorious agents
Penultimate Saturday, the Market men and Women at Bola Ige International Market, popularly known as “Gbagi Market”, Ibadan in the Capital city of Oyo State, trooped out in their hundreds to protest against the State Government under the watch of Mr. Seyi Makinde over planned to sell off the popularly Gbagi Market to his agent through proxy, thereby demolishing the market at the end of the day.
They alleged Governor Seyi Makinde that through his agent, he was trying to bring pains, pangs and untold hardship on the Market Men and Women, who were using meagre resources collecting from Cooperatives, LAPO, GROOMY, SEAP and host of Micro-Finance Banks to be re-allocating the same occupied space in the market with the new payment of One Million Naira(N1,000,000k) after collecting the Expression of Interest Form for the allocation of the same space.*
The Marketers under the aegis of Concerned Market Men and Women in Gbagi Market alleged that Governor Makinde was tactically plan to sell off the Market to his cronies and agents by proxy as part of his parting gift to himself for governing Oyo State for period of eight(8) years from 2019 to 2027.
The names of the Market Men and Women that were victims of Seyi Makinde victimization in the market were; Mr. Saheed Oladosun:-(+2348055360058), Alhaja Bola Okunade:-+(2347033236096), Alhaja Sekinat Oladejo:-(+2348165603157), Mrs Funmilayo Ajewole:-(+2348055264780), Mrs. Aderonke Kadiri:-(+2348124215543), Mr. Wasiu Idowu:-(+2348056243008) and Mrs. Sidikat Moriyeba Babajide.
They listed the agents of Governor Makinde on Gbagi Market as; Alhaji Rasheed Ajagbe:-(+2348106216119), Alhaji Sarumi:-(+2349075943879), Alhaji Akeem Opakunle(OPAK:-+2347034887866)
It was reliably gathered through the State Ministry of Trade, Industries, Investment, and Cooperatives that, the application for Expression of Interest Forms for allocation of the same space in the market were given to the affected Market Men and Women upon the payment of Sum of Five Thousand Naira(N5,000) only to an agent, HAMEX Construction LTD with First Bank Account Number:-2035854540.
While reacting on the issue on Thursday, the human rights organization, *the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice(CHRSJ) kicked against the dubious proposed plan of Governor Seyi Makinde to convert the market to his property by proxy under the guise of Public Private Partnership(PPP), saying that the market was the property of the good people of Oyo State and no Governor has power to convert the government property to his own.
The CHRSJ, spoke through its Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, alleged that, with available information at the disposal of the human rights body, Governor had concluded arrangement to be coordinating by his Personal Assistant(P.A.), one Mr. Seye Famojuro from Ijesa axis of Osun State to seal the arrangement with the aforementioned private individials.*
Comrade Sulaiman disclosed that
it was not the duty of Mr. Seyi Makinde as Governor of Oyo State to intervene on the issue in respect of any market in the State but it was the responsibility of the Local Governments where such market were located as stipulated in the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nogeria.
Sulaiman, who is also Convener, Save Lagos Group(SLG), then, urged Mr. Makinde to rescind all his anti-masses plan against the poor market Men and Women in Gbagi Market, vowing that the human rights organization was ready to resist the evil agenda of the State Government against the poor masses of Oyo State.
The rights activist further stressed that the good people of the State were not committed a crime in voting for Seyi Makinde to be their Governor for the period of eight(8) years but to provide devidends of democracy to them with human face.
Sulaiman further alleged Governor Makinde of selling all the larger percentages of the land located in a strategic places in Ibadan Metropolis and other towns in the State to his cronies than any Governor that ever govern the State since its creation.
It would be recalled that the same Seyi Makinde through his agent sold a land belonging to Federal agency called ARCEDEM under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology which they have been used to produce farm tools and production machines for production of farm products into finishing goods.
This land in question situated at “Wofun”, a subub area of Ibadan Metropolis which covered the large hectares of land in the area, were sold by Makinde to a property developer called “Rayfield Gardens City” where the farm planting worth of Twenty-Five Million Naira(N25m) were destroyed within a twinkle of an eyes in the year 2022.
The farmers and the victims of the dastard and illegal act of destroying the farm planting, were yet to recover from the destruction as the victims were; Mallam Abdullahi Abdulrauf (+2348056670788), Mr. Rasheed Akeem Olalekan(+2348056663307), Mr. Wasiu Rasaq(+2348149840178), Abdulkabir Gasali(+2348055603081), Chief Hassan Popoola(+23456118845) , and Mr. Rasaq Akinbowale(+2349053316440).
Similarly, the CHRSJ boss further alleged Governor Makinde of proscribing the legal and registered State Chapter of the “National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW)” without committing any offence to pave way for Makinde’s illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional Park Management Team as a way to compensate political cronies by taking the means of livelihood of the members of the (NURTW) by subjected them to inhuman treatment.
Sulaiman, therefore, urged the affected people and other indigenes of Oyo State to be ready to resist any tyrannical and anti-masses policy of Seyi Makinde administration by encouraging them that “there would be light at the end of the tunnel”.
