Trail of Tears: How Enugu Market Demolition Leaves Devastated Traders Helpless

When Campus Reporter visited Ogige market in the bustling heart of Nsukka Local Government of Enugu State, Southeastern Nigeria in September, this reporter was confronted with the cacophony of honking vehicles and chatter, making it difficult for anyone to be heard.

Amidst the chaos, an emotional event unfolded as seven-year-old Perpetua, who sat beside her mother, Edith Omekeh, was lost in thought due to the inability of her parents to provide food for her and her siblings. While Perpetua’s parents did not want their children to suffer from hunger, their shops were among those demolished by the state authorities, leaving them without a livelihood. 

As she sat beside her mother, surrounded by her few remaining footwear items displayed on the floor, Perpetua’s voice was barely above a whisper, her eyes fixed on passersby, hoping against hope that a customer would approach.

Speaking with Campus Reporter, Mrs. Omekeh, a mother of four, explained that since the demolition that took place in May 2024, she’s been unable to keep any of her children in school. 

“Our family has been dependent solely on my husband, who works as a taxi driver, to feed us since May,” she said. “When he stopped remitting as agreed, the owner of the car recently took it away.”

To ensure that the already bad situation does not get worse, Mrs. Omeke moved to a roadside to display her remaining goods, just like many other traders, who were all affected by the market’s demolition.

“The footwears here are all we could save,” she lamented. “What I have lost is uncountable; it is multimillion naira.” 

Before the market demolition, her children attended a private school, but since the incident occurred, they have abandoned academics. In fact, feeding the kids has become a major challenge for Mrs. Omekeh and her husband. 

Ogige market’s demolition 

On May 22, 2024, the Enugu State Government asked business owners to vacate some sections of Ogige market which had been in existence for many decades. This was as a result of the government’s decision to construct a transport terminal in the demolished area.

According to Iphie Ugonabo, the Special Assistant to Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah, on Transportation, the project, expected to be situated at the demolished market aimed at revolutionizing the state’s transportation sector by introducing smart transport systems. 

She added that aside from Ogige market, three other places have been affected Holy Ghost, Gariki, and Abakpa. “This is a big step towards making our transport infrastructure safer and more accessible,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ugonabo did not respond to questions regarding the failure of the government to compensate those affected by the demolition. Instead, she said “development can be challenging, but we believe these improvements will bring long-term benefits to the state. Efforts are in full swing to ensure the completion of these projects by December 2024.”

While many traders acknowledged the role of infrastructure in the development of their state, they condemned the short notice given to them by the government. 

Trail of tears

Many traders told Campus Reporter that the market demolition has left a devastating effect on them, especially at a time Nigeria is battling with inflation and unprecedented economic hardship. Also, the incident was said to have led to the death of some of the affected people. 

Celestine Eme, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Ogige Market, said four of his shops were part of those demolished in May and he’s yet to recover from the loss. The most painful part for him was that his wife, who had high blood pressure and low sugar died in the process. 

“My wife started crying from the market on the day the demolition began, and her situation deteriorated. That was how we started visiting the hospital until her death in September,” he narrated. 

Mr Eme, who has been selling in Ogige market since 1974, now hawks around Nsukka town to sell goods in a wheelbarrow in order to provide for his family.

Among the devastated traders, Campus Reporter noticed a woman dressed in traditional white attire, a customary sign of mourning. When this reporter approached her, she burst into tears. By the time she was a bit composed, the woman who identified herself as Onoja Chinedu shared her heart-wrenching story.

“The demolition has dealt with me,” she lamented. “It took away my husband, my rock, my partner in caring for our family.”

Mrs. Chinedu’s voice cracked as she revealed that her husband, Michael, passed away two months after the demolition. The weight of her loss was also compounded by the worry of how she would provide for her children, including paying their school fees after the death of her husband. 

Traders resort to roadside sales

Due to the inability to afford new shops, many affected by the demolished markets said they have resorted to hawking and selling by the roadside. 

One of them, Odeke Stella, could not bring all her products to market because of rain. So, she sometimes trekked home to get products requested by customers. In most cases, the prospective buyers would have left before she returned. 

“I took a loan of 4 million naira to buy a shop at Ogige market a few months before the demolition; I have been sick since then and have not even paid back half of what I borrowed,” she said, explaining that before the demolition, she usually made about N80,000 daily. However, that’s not the same again. “For three days now, I have not sold anything.”

Campus Reporter also met 36-year-old, Ugochukwu Ugwu, under an umbrella by the roadside. She was eight months pregnant when her three shops in Ogige market were demolished. “I could not save many of my goods due to limited time and rain had damaged almost all the remaining goods saved during the demolition.”

‘No compensation yet’

Francis Asogwa, another affected trader, said his products are still packed at home since his shop was demolished. He added that the state government has failed to fulfill its promise to compensate devastated traders. 

“Only the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese has helped some of us with N50,000 each, though not everybody benefited,” Mr Asogwa mentioned. 

Ngozi Ozioko, who is the current chairperson of Ogige Market said nearly three thousand traders were severely affected by the market’s demolition. She also expressed her disappointment over a 72-hour notice issued by the state’s government. 

“The information I got was 72 hours’ notice. They (the government) never told us anything. Nobody told us that we were going to relocate to a particular place; nobody told us that the government was coming to take over this place. It affected the market leadership; our offices, halls and shops were demolished. Many people have turned to the streets while others are still hanging around looking for opportunities,” Mrs Ozioko said.

She, however, said efforts are in place to liaise with the government to compensate affected traders. 

Legal implications 

Speaking with Campus Reporter, Stanley Alieke, a Lawyer and Managing Partner at Law Capitol, argued that while the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the protection of citizens’ property rights under Section 43 the 1999 Constitution as amended, there’s also an obligation for governments to act in the public interest under the Land Use Act of 1978, which governs land tenure.

“Importantly, in cases of demolition, governments must balance their developmental objectives with the socio-economic rights of the affected citizens, such as the right to livelihood as inferred from Section 16(2) (d) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which promotes equality of opportunity for all citizens.

“More critically, there’s an emerging principle in international human rights law regarding the ‘right to the city’ which argues that market spaces like Ogige market aren’t just commercial zones but community hubs that sustain socio-economic networks. In demolishing such spaces, the government’s responsibility transcends mere notice periods; it must consider how its actions impact the economic ecosystem, including informal traders, many of whom fall outside formal legal protections but form the backbone of the local economy.”

Olu Omotayo, a human rights activist and a lawyer added that compensation was supposed to be given to the traders before the demolition. 

“The law provides that if the government takes over your property, you are entitled to adequate and prompt compensation. It must be immediate, if the compensation is not prompt, it is an infringement on the rights of the traders,” he said. “Since the people have been there legally, stores were allocated to them by the government, so if you say you no longer want to use a particular place as a market again, you have to follow due process by relocating them to another place, not just taking over the place because it is government land.”

Meanwhile, Ositadinma Okoro Empowerment Foundation, along with the Law Hub Development and Advocacy Foundation has filed a suit against the Enugu State Government on behalf of the affected traders.

This story was funded by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) through its Empower Women in Media Cohort project.