NAN-AE-3
Trader
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, Nov. 3, 2016 (NAN) The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), on Thursday warned road side traders in the FCT to quit or risk arrest and prosecution.
Mrs Omolola Olanipekun, Acting Director of the board, gave the warning when board members visited Utako Market, Abuja on an environmental sanitation in Abuja.
Olanipekun said that the road side remained an illegal place for trading, adding that the act constitutes a lot of nuisance to the public in the FCT.
“Traders are not supposed to trade on the walk way, it causes traffic and makes it difficult for people to move freely.
“You can see what we`ve been doing here, clearing to make sure that the area is clean and healthy.
“My advice to the traders is that, they should not be here.
“We don’t want to use force and we have never used force even if they want to do anything, we are asking them to imbibe the culture of cleanliness.
“They drop waste any how and they are not supposed to be where they are, in view of the fact that they constitute a lot of nuisance.
“So we are begging them to leave the walk way, if they insist, we will take them to the court,’’ she said.
The acting director said that the board was at the market at exactly 5.30 a.m. with some policemen to ensure that the exercise was effective.
‘’We are here this morning to ensure that the market is clean and healthy for people to do their businesses.
“This is to ensure that one of the mandatory goals of AEPB is fulfilled,’’ he said.
She said that the board wrote a letter to the leadership of the market ahead of the exercise, the reason is to inform it of the exercise.
Olanipekun said that the board also embarked on sensitisation of the traders, informing them about the exercise.
Mr Godwin Okoh, a trader, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, denied that the board informed the trader about the exercise before embarking on the cleaning.
Okoh said that some of them could not afford to pay for shops because the rent was on a high side and the shops had been occupied.
He, however, called on FCT administration to come to their aid by providing an environment that would be conducive and affordable for traders. (NAN)
VOE/DUA/AFA
Edited by Dada Ahmed/Felix Ajide
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