Two weeks after Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, gave traders a two-day ultimatum to vacate the rail corridor in the state, they have refused to leave, citing lack of affordable shops for their trade.
 
The governor gave the warning in his official X, formerly Twitter, handle while expressing delight at the return of Rail Mass Transit (RMT) Blue line, and also during a visit to Agege train station for the Red line rail project.
 
According to him, the rail corridor is for transportation and not a marketplace, stressing that trains will soon start passing the rail corridor at intervals of five to 10 minutes, which could be dangerous to the lives of the traders.
 
However, when The Guardian visited the corridor yesterday, traders were still doing their daily businesses on the rail tracks. A food seller at Agege rail track, Mrs Morenikeji Akinbiyi, who spoke to The Guardian, asked rhetorically, where does the governor want us to go?
  
Akinbiyi lamented that since the governor gave the order, she has not been able to sleep because of the thought of how she will take care of the children at home.

“After the day Sanwo-Olu came to ask us to leave this place, I have not been able to sleep because of the thought of where I will stay to sell and make money.
  
“I have three children, and I am the one feeding the family. I don’t have a shop, this is where I stay everyday to sell and make some money,” Akinbiyi said.
 
She pleaded with the governor to help them get a place where they can continue their business. Another trader in Agege, who pleaded anonymity said: “I have been here for three years selling fairly used clothes (Okirika). This is where I get my daily bread.
  
“I was not surprised when the governor came to ask us to leave, but at least, he should find a better place for us to stay and sell our goods.”
 
Also, a petty trader on Oshodi rail track, Monsurate Ayeni, complained about the cost of shops at the main market, describing it as high and unaffordable.
  
“How do you expect a tomato and pepper seller like me to be paying N8,000 for a shop monthly, where do I want to see the money? That is why I choose to stay here because we only pay a token here.”
 
She pleaded with the governor to make shop rents affordable so that they could move into them. Reacting, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, said it is illegal and dangerous for people to trade on the railway track and it would not be allowed.
 
According to him, the state is trying to save their lives, and they should help government to do the right thing.  He advised the traders to go into the market and find a space for themselves.
 
On the enforcement of the governor’s directive, Omotosho said the traders are so massive and cannot be moved in one day.  He stressed that the State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) has moved so many traders out of the rail tracks, but it is an ongoing exercise.