Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
On Sunday, May 18, the popular Tombia Market in Yenagoa, the capital city of Bayelsa State, fell. But unlike the action-thriller movie, Olympus Has Fallen, and its sequel, London Has Fallen, where there was Special Agent Mike Banning to battle forces on behalf of the people, the traders and landlords at Tombia Market had no saviour.
There were open lamentations as bulldozers and back actors, accompanied by a combined team of stern-looking security operatives and coordinated by the COVID-19 State Task Force Team, the Bayelsa State Environmental Sanitation Authority and the Bayelsa State Physical Planning and Development Board, brought down Tombia Market.
The sight of traders dealing in both perishable and imperishable goods in agony and the long faces of traders at the GSM Market, popularly known as Computer Village, illustrated the harrowing experience the people were going through at that moment.
Many must have been preoccupied with thoughts of how to eke a living after COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the entire country.
But the fall of Tombia market was foretold. The place had become a den of criminals and hoodlums who have become a law to themselves, turning the market axis, the Tombia/ Etegwe Roundabout, adjoining roads and streets into a fiefdom of criminality. Brazen acts of robbery were committed in the full glare of helpless security operatives. And so with the decision to sanitize the markets to enforce social distancing by the State Task Force on COVID-19, and government’s decision to expand the Etegwe/ Tombia Roundabout and possibly construct a fly-over, the Tombia Market had to give way.
Understandably, Bayelsans have been polarised since Tombia Market was demolished and the government has been taking time to explain that it did it in the best interest of the state. The government cited its urban renewal policy; need to maintain social distancing in this era of COVID-19 and clearance of criminal hideouts as the main driving force of government.
“The truth of the matter is that there was no provision for a market at this Tombia Junction in the Bayelsa master plan. This is an illegal market, which has provided a hideout for criminals to terrorise people in the night,” a top security operative said.
Mr. David, a landlord in the area, echoed same thought, insisting that the insecurity in the area demanded the response from the state government.
“This market deserved to be demolished because of bad boys. The robbery in this area is too much. Security agents would be here and boys would be robbing people. The government should go a step further and ensure security is provided here,” he said.
Governor Douye Diri has also noted that the demolition was carried out in the best interest of the people: “What we have done in Swali and Tombia Market is to bring back the beauty of Yenagoa. We are sanitising that place so that our women that are going to the market would not be looking at their backs in fear that one criminal will come and attack them. I think that Bayelsans should applaud this administration for the bold steps we are taking so far.”
To further justify the demolition, supporters of the government argued that the exercise was carried out after notices had been served to owners and occupants of illegal structures to evacuate as they contravene the development laws of the state.
“The demolition of illegal structures at the popular Tombia/Etegwe Market is to ease traffic flow, improve hygienic conditions, expose criminal hideouts and bring orderliness to the environment,” the statement added.
The demolition drew applause from residents of the area as they believed their nightmare with criminal gangs was about to be over.
“I love the demolition. We that live at Tombia Road know what we have suffered in the hands of those bad boys. That has been their hideout where they have continued to terrorise us. Kudos to the government,” said Mrs Esther who had lived in the area for ten years. Another resident, Mr. Frank, concurred: “The idea of the demolition is long overdue. It is commendable that Governor Diri has the political will to evacuate the so-called Tombia Market. It has served as the hideout for criminal gangs for so long.”
Mr. Daniel Alabrah, acting Chief Press Secretary to the governor, also defended the demolition in a programme on a private radio station in Bayelsa, People’s FM.
“That place has been earmarked for a fly-over. The previous government has paid compensation to property owners. Those that would be affected by the development have been properly enumerated and paid compensation.”
The criticisms against the demolition have also been in torrents. The victims listed lack of proper notice, disregard for due process, non-provision of an alternative and high-handedness of security agencies during the demolition exercise as low points of the exercise. “They just came and bulldozed this place. No alternative was given to us. I don’t even know what to do. If government knows that it wants to use this place, it should at least provide an alternative for us so that we can sell and survive” said Chika who sold fairly-used clothes at the market.
Badly hit with the demolition are traders at the GSM section, and they expressed their disappointment. The Chairman of the GSM Market Traders Union, William Eze, who claimed that neither he nor any other trader got an evacuation notice, said he was at a loss on why government would take that action.
“They chose a holy Sunday to destroy a market that provides over 2000 jobs at a time when families can hardly feed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “Now that you have destroyed this place, what do you want the people to do? Remember that the borders are closed because of COVID-19. They have destroyed our shops, our source of livelihood and income. There is no reason to remain in Bayelsa. Let them please open the borders and let us go home to our villages before we die of hunger here.”
Nobel Kodel, a young furniture maker whose workshop was affected by the demolition could not hold back tears seeing all that he had laboured for perish in a twinkle of an eye. The young man, who said he pleaded with the security operatives to allow him remove his equipment and finished works, expressed sadness at the attitude of those that carried out the demolition.
“I pleaded with them to give me 30 minutes to remove my materials but they refused. I was inside trying to remove some things when they brought the building down and I could not even remove jobs given to me which I have finished. Everything was destroyed. How do I start? My equipment was buried in the debris,” he said.
Sam Dogitimi, a resident, said government should look into Kodel’s case. “We cannot be fighting crime and criminality and unwittingly render hardworking and zealous Bayelsans idle and frustrated,” he said.
Ebidoufeigha Owei, from Angalabiri, Sagbama Local Government Area, and a landlord in the area, also narrated his tale of woe. Owei, who started off as a mason in construction sites in Yenagoa, said he eventually went to school to study Civil Engineering. He wondered why the government would demolish buildings on a land he legitimately acquired 17 years ago.
“I am one of the landlords. I bought my land in 2003. My survey plans and other permits are intact. I see no reason why they are coming to destroy my place. They paid some landlords but left me out. I submitted my documents, including the survey plan to government. They did not give me any notice and some people were telling them this place was not among, but some of them insisted. I am definitely going to court as the hope of the common man,” he said.