Sapele: Traders, widows protest against Okowa

Widows and traders in Sapele, Delta State on Friday staged a peaceful protest against the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, over the state government order revoking stalls allotted to them by the last administration in the state.

The women condemned the governor’s decision, stating that they were allotted the stalls after they made full payment for them and completed all formalities.

Leaders of the placard-wielding protesters, Mrs Cecelia Eregare and Mr. Happy Atsegor, said, “It is wickedness for the governor that was voted into power by the people to turn around and throw us into the cold street after paying for our stalls.”

They lamented that they had been on the issue since 2006 when fire gutted the market and they were ordered to vacate their shops for the market to be rebuilt.Eregare recalled that they were re-allotted the stalls in early 2014 after they completed payment and paper works with the government.

We applied for the shops; we bought forms, completed and returned them as well as made the requirement payment before we were given the shop. So it is surprising that the new governor is giving us notice to quit,” Mr Atsegor added.

Meanwhile, the widows and traders who carried several placards that denounced the government’s action, vowed to resist the quit order.

Besides, they wondered why the government was in a hurry to qui them despite a pending legal tussle over the issue.

Although Governor Okowa could not be reached for comment, it was learnt that the state’s Director of Information, Paul Osahor, who signed the order, urged all traders currently occupying shops and stalls in the market to evacuate their wares.

Nation