The Lagos State House of Assembly has called for the relocation of the Mile 12 Market after a deadly ethnic clash left many dead in the area.
The Assembly, which described the conflict that resulted in the destruction of property running into millions of naira as unfortunate, urged Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to find another location for the popular market, a statement said.
The lawmakers sent their condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the clash and condemned the killings and criticised the soldiers stationed at the market for failing to stop the conflict from spreading.
Some of the solider had been accused of taking sides in the clash between Yoruba and Hausa youths and the Assembly called for an enquiry into the incident.
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, was quoted as saying, “Soldiers have been stationed at the market since 1999, yet they have not been able to solve the problem. There is a police station there, what did the DPO do, when the incident occurred?
“It is a market without structure; we can move the market to another place if we can provide an alternative. We should look at a new planning; we cannot have such a market at the centre of a megacity.”
Another lawmaker, Gbolahan Yishawu, however, stressed that it was important for the matter to be fully investigated to forestall a recurrence rather than just relocating the market.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Wasiu Eshinlokun, explained that the market was not properly organised and that a visit to the place would revealed that its structural defects and dearth of infrastructure.
The clash in the Mile 12-Ketu axis of Lagos on Thursday had prompted the Lagos State Governor to shut down the Mile 12 Market and impose a curfew in the area on the same day.
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