Traders with stores under and around the Apongbon bridge, Lagos Island on Monday pleaded with the Lagos State government to rescind its decision to evacuate them from under the bridge.
The traders who were affected by last week’s fire outbreak said they have nowhere else to go and pleaded that the state government allows them to continue their businesses at the same location.
They displayed various placards lamenting that they are helpless and depend on their stores located around the bridge for means of livelihood.
“We are over 20,000 businessmen and women, please don’t displace us,” one of the placards by the traders read.
The traders said markets affected by the directive include the Aromoleti Esho market, Shoe and bag market, Irewolede market, ECOWAS market, and Asejere market.
This comes a few days after the popular Apongbon market was gutted by fire. Although no life was lost in the fire outbreak, motorists heading toward Lagos Island were held up in grueling gridlock and the bridge was destroyed in the fire.
The state government in response to the incident shut the bridge and gave the traders a seven-day quit notice to evacuate their makeshift shops and containers.
