LAWMA crackdown: Yaba traders plead for reopening of sealed shops

Some shop owners and residents in Yaba have lamented losses following the sealing of shops by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

The shop owners made their complaints in separate interviews with the news reporters on Wednesday in Lagos.

Newsmen reports that LAWMA officials sealed several shops and plazas along the Yaba-Tejuosho and Tejuosho-Ojuelegba corridors on July 30.

The enforcement targeted persistent environmental sanitation violations, including indiscriminate refuse disposal on road medians and the use of unapproved cart pushers.

The shop owners said the lockdown had affected their livelihoods, as they were unable to open their businesses and serve customers.

They, however, promised to comply with sanitation regulations and appealed to LAWMA to reopen the affected shops.

A bookshop owner in Yaba, Mr Olalekan Adebayo, said he had continued to lose customers since the closure of his shop.

“I only realised something was wrong when I could no longer sell my books.

“We want to work with LAWMA to address the sanitation issues. We will work together to resolve the problem.

“It is not right that people cannot open their shops and are losing customers, but we hope LAWMA will do something soon,” Adebayo said.

Another shop owner, who pleaded anonymity, said shop owners were bearing the brunt of the lockdown, although some residents were responsible for indiscriminate refuse disposal.

“We have caught some residents around our shops dumping refuse bags on the road, but there is nothing we can do to stop them.

“We also had a meeting with LAWMA after the lockdown, where we provided evidence of our patronage of the agency and cart pushers.

“LAWMA promised to come and unseal our shops on Monday, but till now nothing has been done.

“I don’t think there is still a valid reason why our shops should remain locked.

“Even after the agency promised to open our shops, we have not heard from them, so it is a failure on their part,” he said.

Mr Oluwafemi Adesoya, a resident of Nathan Street, expressed frustration over the continued sealing of the shops in spite of the economic hardship in the country.

“It is already eight days and everywhere is dry. Shops are not open and this is not expected.

“It is mainly the residents that are to blame for the unsanitary environment and other people who bring refuse from other streets and dump it when no one is watching.

“They even said each shop should pay N100,000, and we are losing a lot of money and customers. The government should help us,” Adesoya said.

Also, Mr Dayo Odunoso, Community Development Association Chairman of Martins, Jacob and Elizabeth Streets, Yaba, urged LAWMA to have mercy on the traders and reopen the sealed shops.

“It is the residents that usually throw refuse, making it seem like the shop owners are at fault,” Odunoso said.

He disclosed that the affected shops would soon be reopened, following a recent meeting with LAWMA.

Odunoso, however, urged residents and shop owners to act as watchdogs against indiscriminate refuse disposal in their neighbourhood.

“If you see something, say something,” he added.