By Ozioruva Aliu

MORE  than a year after the fire incident that gutted parts of Oba Market, Benin City, Edo State, the section remains a wretched sight with dangling roof, weather-beaten and weak walls exposed to nature.

Traders at the market opposite the Oba of Benin palace have been undergoing a disheartening experience since the June 22, 2020 inferno.

When NDV visited the market, the dingy stairway that leads to the upper floor was littered with dirt and odour of human urine and excreta notwithstanding a notice that said: ‘Don’t urinate here’ on the wall.

Some young men displayed their wares on the broken walls while others clutching their slippers and clothes, told NDV that they were cut off from their customers where the leadership of the market temporarily relocated them.

Request
They appealed to the state government to rebuild the damaged section, complaining that the palliative that Governor Godwin Obaseki government brought when the inferno happened was not judiciously distributed, an allegation the secretary, Edo State Market Women, Oredo chapter, Okojie Maurine, dismissed.

One of the boys simply identified as Efe, said: “I sell male clothes here before the market got burnt, all of us here now, our shops got burnt during that inferno but because we cannot just stay at home, we decided to continue coming out to see what we can make. We lost everything to that fire.

“We started all over again, we got support from people that we know, friends and relatives. Governor Obaseki brought money to support us and what we heard was that we were to share the money N300, 000 each, but you know the way things happen, we did not get that.

“There was a man here who had items worth over N2m in his stores, how much did they give to him? What the highest person got was N200, 000, some N100, 000, some N50, 000.

“It is the government that should rebuild the market for us and we are begging the governor to come and help us rebuild this place so that we can start again. Our customers already know us here that is why we come here to hang around and put our goods inside bags because there is no roof, so we cannot display our goods.

“But those who already know us here, when they come, we attend to them. I have been doing the business for about three years before the fire,” he added.

Another trader, Sunday Ugo, said: “Where they relocated us, nobody will know that somebody is selling there, that is why we still come here to look for buyers.”

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank Obaseki, but …
But, the scribe, Edo Market Women, Oredo chapter, Maurine Okojie, asserted: “We want to thank the governor from the bottom of our heart, but at the same time, being Oliver Twist, we are asking Edo State Government to, at least in terms of the building, help us to rebuild the affected part of the market to enable the traders go back to their shops.”

“It is the responsibility of the government to build the market, we are tenants to the council so we pay to the council and they make the necessary remittance to the state.”

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On the money released by government, she said:   “At least there was money brought, you know the average trader even if you give a million naira, they will still ask for more , so we thank the governor. For even coming at all is a show of commitment that he is really ready for the people.”

In Uwelu spare parts, govt. totally abandoned us – Osaretin
Some traders at Ekiosa, Santana, Uwelu Spare parts Markets in Benin City bemoaned same situation of abandonment after fire incidents between 2019 and 2020.

Immediate past chairman of Uwelu Spare parts market gutted by fire in August 2019, Ibie Osaretin, said the affected traders were the ones rebuilding the market.

  “It is the people whose goods got burnt that are rebuilding the market. The government did not give us one naira, not even words of encouragement from the government. They abandoned us since August 12, 2019 when the incident happened.

They did not give us any compensation, they abandoned us totally,” she said.
Pic file: Section: (caption: Section of Oba Market, Benin abandoned since June 2020 inferno.)

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