ENUGU — DESPITE a sub-sisting order of an Enugu State High Court, restraining Enugu State Government from demolishing stalls at the Old Park Market in Enugu metropolis without first relocating the 890 affected traders, the state government has pulled down stalls in the market.
Apart from the statutory shop owners in the market, no fewer than 2,000 other traders doing business in the market are to be displaced as the state government had served a fresh eviction notice to enable it demolish the entire structures in the market with effect from today.
In the first phase of the demolition exercise carried out under the supervision of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA, about 66 stalls were brought down, while the remaining 824 were marked for demolition.
demolition: Demolition at Old Park Market in Enugu. INSETS: Traders affected by the exercise.
Government had last year indicated interest to relocate the traders in the market to enable it erect a shopping mall in the place and asked the affected traders to move to the new market on Aria Road.
The suit
However, when government began to issue quit notices to the affected traders, the traders proceeded to court on the ground that the so-called alternative allocation was not real.
In the suit on their behalf by Ifeanyichukwu Eneh against the state government and Enugu Capital Territory, the traders had sought the protection of their property rights.
The court had, in both interim and interlocutory orders, restrained the state government from demolishing the stalls without providing alternative place to the affected traders.
Some of the affected traders, who spoke on the development, yesterday, said they were shocked to arrive their shop on Friday to discover a notice from the state government, urging them to “park out without an alternative place,” even when there was a subsisting court order barring government from demolishing the stalls.
A victim’s story
Chief Ahara, one of the affected traders, said: “We are not against government doing whatever it wants to do with the place. What we are saying is that many of us have paid rents in advance, running into millions, to the same state government.
“They asked for the rents, collected them and never told us that we are not wanted at the place. This is where we do our business. Many of us have two to three shops here.
“What we are asking for is that they show us alternative places to do our business.”
In a statement on their behalf by their counsel, Tagbo Ike, they condemned the action of the state government as not only dictatorial but barbaric.
He said: “We watch in awe and total amazement the orchestrated demolitions and threats of further demolitions of market stalls of our clients at Old Park, Ogbete Market, Enugu, by the government through the instrumentality of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority despite a subsisting and extant order of the High Court of Enugu State stopping the demolition.
“We find the state government’s posture and attitude as not only dictatorial and draconian, but also barbaric, contemptuous disregard to extant and subsisting court order, affront to rule of law, which forbids parties in a suit in court from compromising same, and flagrant show of lawlessness and arbitrariness.
‘Not civil’
“We live in an age where the rest of humanity is striving to attain the civilised ethos of international best practices and the Enugu State Government, rather than adhere to this international norm, chooses a descent to the Hobbesian state of impunity, arbitrariness and lawlessness.”
He implored the state government to abide by the rule of law and cease further demolition of the market stalls, and await the outcome of the litigation.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the Commissioner in charge of the ECTD, Mr. Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, on the issue proved abortive as he neither answered calls to his mobile number nor responded to text messages sent to him on the issue, at press time.
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