Traders from Dugbe Market in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, May 24, 2021, stormed State Secretariat at Agodi GRA, protesting against the alleged high handedness of the lessor of the property they rented, and the locking of their shops despite having paid in advance till 2022.
The protest was against the owner of Oginni Retail Market Shopping Complex, one Olatunde Oginni.
The market men and women, who carried placards, had come to the Secretariat from Total Garden Area, over what they referred to as excessive exploitation by the lessor, who was said to be overcharging them on rents.
The traders also brought a written petition titled ‘Save Us From Unlawful Charges, Exorbitant Payments; Save Our Lives and Property.”
They complained that Oginni was compelling them to pay advance rents of between five and 10 years.
The protesters said that that despite having paid for this year and 2022, their shops had been locked by their landlord.
They chanted: “Seyi Makinde, save us; Oginni wants to ruin us!”, as the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Agodi Division, CSP Afeez Oyekan appealed to the protesters to remain peaceful in their agitation for justice and humane treatment.
Similarly, students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, held a peaceful protest on same day over the high school fees they were being made to pay the institution.
The students, numbering about 300, came from Bodija end to the secretariat at about 11am, bearing placards with inscriptions: ‘School fee is too much’, ‘enough of using one year for a semester’, ‘paying our school fees without lectures’.
They also lamented that the institution’s authority was elongating their stay in school due to non-availability of lecturers, aside the high school fees.
In response, the Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security Matters, Sunday Odukoya, a retired Commissioner of Police, in company with the Special Adviser to the governor on Student Affairs, who addressed them at about 11:15am, advised them to put their complaints into writing.
He assured the students that it would be forwarded to Governor Makinde for consideration, after being written and submitted.
The Executive Assistant to Governor Makinde, who also spoke with the traders, collected the petition from them, with the promise that it would be forwarded to the governor’s table.
He advised the traders to visit Iyaganku Area Command to air their grievances.
Odukoya also said they could file a civil suit against the landlord in a court of law to resolve the issue.
When contacted, Oginni, who was raining expletives on the traders, boldly asserted himself as the owner of the property, saying that he would do whatever he wanted with it.
He said that the traders had already taken him to court, adding that they would meet there to resolve the matter.
“I’m the owner of my property. If I like, I can tell them to pay ahead of the day I will die. It’s what I want. If they can’t do it, they should pack their wares and leave my property.
“They have already gone to court, and we will meet there,” Oginni said.
On the part of The Polytechnic students’ protests, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Soladoye Adewole said that it was unfortunate that the students embarked on protest over what he said was an internal issue.
Adewole said that there had been a meeting with student leaders, adding that the issue was being addressed.
