Shop owners at the Ikota Shopping Complex in Lagos have begun a protest and self-led action against the growing presence of illegal roadside traders reportedly allocated space by local council touts. The aggrieved business owners claim the encroachment has turned designated road setbacks and walkways into unregulated mini-markets, causing daily obstruction, sanitation issues, and general disorganization within the complex.
According to multiple eyewitness accounts, the traders were not formally sanctioned by the Lagos State Government but were allegedly placed there by individuals posing as council officials or operatives linked to local political interests. “We pay rent and taxes, yet our customers cannot even access our shops because these people have turned every open space into a stall,” one shop owner lamented, adding that they’ve made repeated complaints to no avail.
Some shop owners began physically dismantling the stalls on Friday morning, prompting confrontations and heightened tension between the complex tenants and the roadside vendors. Protesters say they will not back down until the illegal occupiers are removed and the original structure and traffic flow of the complex restored. As of press time, there has been no formal response from Eti-Osa local authorities.
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