Igwuruta: Battling The Menace Of Roadside Markets

From any angle one approaches Igwuruta junction in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, either from Igwuruta Ali or Eneka axis, the market is visible with a queer presence of many makeshift stalls hanging in the centre of the road.
The Igwuruta main market sells every five days, but the rest of the days, one can still see motley of traders displaying their wares on top of the roundabout kerbs and walkways.
When The Tide Metro visited the market, many of the traders were seen displaying their goods and felt less concerned about safety of their customers or themselves.
Vehicles horn from different directions to clear the road and ahead of the traffic, a middle-aged woman clad in trousers and canvas with long stick was clearing one side of the pedestrian walkway to make way for people to walk through.
The young lady who gave her name as Mrs. Blessing Olocha is the market mistress. Many of the traders who had moved their goods to the edge of the road on seeing her, shifted their wares, while others ran along with their products.
“That is what I face here daily,” Olocha told The Tide Metro with beads of sweat dropping from her head and neck. She quickly edged one trader hawking carrots and took over her wheelbarrow as she pushed the wares with other goods she had seized to her office located in one corner of the market.
Olocha lamented that she resumes every 8am to control the traders from spilling onto the road,” I can’t carry their goods home. So, when I seize them, they have to pay small levy to serve as warning,” she stated.
The market mistress noted that “Most of the stalls inside are empty,” most of them will tell you they want customers to see and buy their goods, that is why they hawk by the roadside not minding their safety.”
She narrated how a truck ran into a motorcycle operator who had stopped to buy something at the junction.
Asked whether the council taskforce does not come to oversee activities in the market, Olocha said they do occasionally, “but you see, this market is not owned by government. It was built by my father in-law, Late Chief Benson Olocha.
When The Tide Metro asked some of the traders why they preferred displaying and selling their goods on the road, one of the traders, Mrs Beauty Ohia said they sell off their goods quickly.
Said Mrs. Ohia, “I don’t come to the road until evening when workers have closed for work. Many of these workers don’t like coming into the market to buy food stuffs.”
According to her, some of the traders sell into the midnight, “Workers on shift come here to buy foodstuffs, so if you come here by 12am, you can still buy food stuffs.”
She recalled that before now most of the traders were robbed in the night, but with the presence of a police checkpoint at the junction, such incidents have reduced.
Another trader, Love Baribeba who deals on crayfish said she cannot afford a shop in the market, hence, she resorts to selling by the roadside.” You can’t see any customer inside the market,” she added.
One trader whose stall was built on the kerb at the roundabout, Chibuike Okorie disclosed that he was allocated the spot by the market owners, “We pay registration fee for the space. Once you pay N40,000, the spot belongs to you.”
Each trader is expected to pay daily tickets for him or her to sell in the market,” Okorie stated further.
Clement Chibuzor whose mother sells groundnuts in jerry can said he enjoys the spot where he has been located,” adding, “We sell up to three to four jerry cans daily. If we stay inside the market, it’s difficult to make such sales,”he declared.
Chibuzor pays daily N300 tickets to stay and sell by the roadside. “On market days, we may pay higher depending on how we sell.
A lady who sells garri and shares boundary with Chibuzor’s stall sounded rude as she asked The Tide Metro, “Where do you want us to stay? Do you have a place for us to stay? My brother go and mind your business, I am comfortable here.”

By: Kevin Nengia