DELTA STATE: Uduaghan Demolish Market, Women Protest?

Market women protest

Market women in Ughelli and civil rights groups have accused Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration of high-handedness as the government reportedly proceeds with a plan to evict traders from a 50-year old market that has been slated for demolition. The state government plans to demolish the old market and relocate it to a new site in a different community. The plan has drawn condemnation from women traders across the state as well as civil groups.
The affected traders, who are mostly widows and single mothers, and youths in the area, have vowed to resist the government’s eviction and demolition plan by all means.
Over the last three days, economic and social activities have ground to a virtual halt, with stores and businesses shut down in solidarity with the Ughelli women traders protesting the planned relocation of the market. “This is the only market owned by the [Ughelli] kingdom,” one of the protesters said. “So why is it that the government now wants to close it down and move it?”
Many of the women, who are carrying out a peaceful protest, harped on the fact that the market has existed in Ughelli market for more than 50 years. They argued that customers would find it difficult to access the proposed site of a new market. They stressed that the neighboring communities, including Ekakpamre, Ufuoma, Eruemukokurie, and Effurun-Otor, trade in the Ughelli main market.
A protesting woman told SaharaReporters that the government’s plan market re-allotment program would engender poverty. “The amount of economic loss will be enormous because we women run our businesses on micro-credit and loans from micro-finance and commercial banks. And we service these loans with quick turn-over from our businesses.”
Several of the visibly angry women said the government’s plan also threatened the educational future of their children, noting that the new market location has no schools around it. “So many of us have [more than] six children each who attend various schools around Iwreko and Ekiugbo. How can we leave our stalls to go and carry our children after school hours?”
Another protester stated that the new site is located along the East-West Road, under construction, adding that the location was hard for mothers and children to access.
Last Sunday, a large group of protesters gathered at the palace of the Ughelli monarch for prayers and consultations. A letter containing their position was presented to the monarch.
The letter called on Mr. Uduaghan to “stay action on the threatened eviction, demolition and relocation of Ughelli goods market because the adverse socio-economic consequences and impact that it will create will be too difficult for the state government to handle.”
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization called the Niger Delta Women’s Movement for Peace and Development (NDWPD) has characterized the state government as a “violator” of women’s rights on account of the planned demolition and relocation of the market.
In a press statement signed by its national president, Caroline Usikpedo-Omoniye, the group described the action as “mere wickedness, unlawful, unethical and a violation of the rights of the traders especially the market women who are the majority in the goods market,” adding that there was little or no “citizen engagement and participation” in the decision.
The release explained that the “rights of the market women and other people will be infringed upon should government chose to use any forceful means in evicting the market women, or bringing down the market.”
The NDWPD’s leader, who is also the Nigerian representative of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) for women empowerment, stated that the women were willing to relocate to a temporary site if the government truly wished to rebuild the market as some government officials have claimed. She added that the Iwhreko community and the Ughelli kingdom were ready to provide a location for the temporary market.
The NGO argued that the so-called ultra modern market built by the government was yet to be completed, pointing to the absence of ceilings and other vital amenities. Some protesters said the reported completion of the market was a fraudulent scheme signed on paper. They argued that any relocation would render more than 800 women traders economically and socially vulnerable. They alleged that most of the stalls were allocated to political office holders who intend to rent out the stalls to the women at exorbitant rates.
“We urge the government to come to the roundtable to evaluate the extent of loss of income, economic activities and livelihood that this action will pose. The new market stalls have been allotted on three occasions and to three different persons and this is causing serious fight among the women,” the statement added.
Protesters accused politicians of plotting to use the new stores to serve their greed. They cited the outrageous fee of N30,000 per year imposed on the traders, a huge increase on the N1, 500 the women used to pay each year.”
Last month, the Delta State government had issued an ultimatum asking the women to relocate to the Ogor market. The government threatened to resort to forcible eviction and demolition if the traders did not comply with the relocation order.
Source: Sahara Reporters