Edo: Oredo LGA To Relocate Street Traders To 900 Shops

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The persistent practice has forced pedestrians to either navigate through crowded trading spots or walk on busy roads, exposing them to possible accidents and other hazards.

Across parts of the state capital, traders display food items, clothing, fairly used shoes, household goods and other wares on walkways, turning public spaces into extensions of their businesses despite intermittent raids by government task forces.

The development has also heightened concerns over traffic congestion, environmental sanitation and the effectiveness of existing measures to enforce urban regulations.

At the popular Oba Market in the city centre, the Edo State Government had rebuilt and completed about 900 shops as part of efforts to address street trading and discourage traders from displaying their wares on pedestrian walkways.

Governor Monday Okpebholo had explained that the initiative was designed to relocate traders operating outside the market into the main market environment, thereby providing them with safer and more comfortable conditions for doing business.

However, the continued occupation of walkways by traders suggests that challenges bordering on access to affordable shops, allocation and economic survival may be undermining the government’s efforts.

Speaking on the development yesterday, a fairly used clothes and shoes dealer along Mission Road, Ighodalo Amos, said traders were not comfortable displaying their wares on the roads but had been compelled by their inability to afford shop rents.

Amos alleged that some of the shops built by the government were allocated to individuals with political connections, leaving ordinary traders without affordable alternatives.

“We are not happy displaying our goods on the road, but we cannot afford paying for shops. Most times, these shops built by the government are given to only those closer to politicians,” he said.

He said repeated raids by government agents had failed to address the problem, insisting that the provision of more affordable shops would offer a lasting solution.

“Every now and then, government agents raid us, but that doesn’t address the issue because we also pay taxes for selling here. I think the issue is for government to provide and build more shops because we have to do this as our source of livelihood,” Amos added.

Similarly, a tomato seller, Esosa Idemudia, said street trading was driven largely by economic necessity, explaining that many petty traders could not afford the cost of renting shops.

Idemudia said the location of their businesses along walkways also made it easier for customers to see their goods and make purchases.

“We trade on walkways because it is easy for most of our customers to see us and buy. Besides, I can’t afford to pay for shops because they are beyond my income. We are appealing to government to provide shops for us,” she said. Reacting to the situation, the Chairman of Oredo local government area, Hon. Gabrus Idusere, said the practice would soon become a thing of the past, disclosing that the council was working out modalities to accommodate traders operating on walkways in the 900 shops recently rebuilt by the Edo State Government.

Idusere said the council was already engaging relevant stakeholders to ensure the relocation of the traders into the newly constructed shops, stressing that the initiative would help restore order to public spaces across the local government area.

“As I speak to you now, we are in a meeting working out modalities on how to bring all traders trading outside into the newly built shops. It would soon be a thing of the past,” the council chairman said. He expressed optimism that the planned relocation would provide a lasting solution to street trading and improve the free movement of pedestrians within Benin City.

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