Alaba Rago traders demand caretaker committee’s removal, elections
Traders at Alaba Rago Market in Ojo, Lagos State, have demanded the immediate dissolution of the market’s Interim Caretaker Committee over alleged financial irregularities, shop allocation fraud and its prolonged stay in office.
The traders, who protested on Tuesday, accused the committee, led by Alhaji Hussain Lajiawa, of overstaying its mandate and failing to protect their interests amid the market’s ongoing redevelopment.
Abimbola Joseph
Traders at Alaba Rago Market in Ojo, Lagos State, have demanded the immediate dissolution of the market’s Interim Caretaker Committee over alleged financial irregularities, shop allocation fraud and its prolonged stay in office.
The traders, who protested on Tuesday, accused the committee, led by Alhaji Hussain Lajiawa, of overstaying its mandate and failing to protect their interests amid the market’s ongoing redevelopment.
They subsequently marched to the Area E Police Command in FESTAC, where they presented their grievances and demanded fresh elections to produce new market leaders.
Police officials directed the protesters to return on Thursday with all sectional heads and two representatives for a meeting with the Area Commander to discuss arrangements for the election.
Market sources told CitizenDiary that the traders had previously petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies over the committee’s activities.
The protesters carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “Lajiawa Must Go Now”, “Enough of Shop and Revenue Racketeering”, “Stop Selling Our Market Land to Strangers” and “We Want an Election, Your Time Is Up”.
They accused the committee of mismanaging the market and demanded an elected leadership accountable to traders.
The protest comes amid the redevelopment of the market, which the Lagos State Government took over in 2025 and renamed Alaba Transnational Market.
Under the redevelopment programme, government-appointed developers have demolished old stalls and begun constructing modern shops and other facilities.
The Chairman of the Alaba Rago Market Cattle-Ram Dealers Association, Alhaji Adamu Uman-Katogum, said the caretaker committee was appointed in 2021 for six months, during which it was expected to organise elections.
He accused the committee of remaining in office for more than five years without conducting elections.
Uman-Katogum alleged that the committee had failed to represent traders adequately, particularly those in the ram section, which he claimed accounted for 85 per cent of the market.
He further alleged that traders who owned shops before the demolition were being denied spaces in the new buildings without compensation.
“The developers are working in tandem with the committee to dislodge our people from the market where they have been trading for years,” he said.
“The memorandum of understanding we entered into with the government on the market’s development did not state that we should be denied shops during the new allocation.”
The association’s secretary, Shaiabu Ibrahim, also accused the committee of frustrating efforts by displaced traders to secure shops in the redeveloped market.
He alleged that several traders who previously owned multiple shops had been excluded from the allocation of new spaces.
Ibrahim questioned the transparency of the allocation process, alleging that the committee and state authorities had shortchanged traders through the sale and distribution of shops.
He also raised concerns about alleged financial irregularities and insisted that the committee had lost the confidence of traders.
According to him, the traders have formally communicated their position to the relevant authorities and will no longer accept the committee’s continued leadership.
However, Lajiawa rejected allegations that the committee had failed to protect traders’ interests.
Speaking during the meeting at the Area E Police Command, he maintained that the committee had acted in the traders’ interests throughout its tenure.
He claimed that the Lagos State Government had directed the committee to remain in office until the market’s reconstruction was completed.
Lajiawa, however, did not present any document at the meeting to support his claim that the government had extended the committee’s tenure. The traders insist that the committee should be dissolved and elections conducted to restore accountability and confidence in the market’s leadership.
