We never bribed govt officials, say traders

Our Reporter

Traders at the Oriyanrin market on Lagos Island, which was recently gutted by fire, have appealed to the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration to disregard the information being peddled that they (traders) have been going to Alausa Secretariat to bribe government officials, in a bid to stop them from doing their job.

A market leader, Mrs. Rukayat Balogun, who spoke on behalf of the traders yesterday, said that although officials of the Lagos State Government had been sent to inspect the market, they confirmed that just two shops were affected by the fire.

Some parts of the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island were recently gutted by fire. Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed. The incident led to the closure of the market.

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During investigation, traders were asked to vacate the premises for seven days, to allow officials inspect the level of destruction done by the fire and know how to prevent recurrence.

Lamenting the damage the false information had caused traders, Mrs. Balogun said it was disheartening to hear some allegations being spread that traders, who could barely make ends meet, bribed government officials with huge sums of money.

She said the information was false.

Balogun said: “It is disheartening to hear information going round that some of us have been bribing government officials. Where do they expect us to get that kind of money? How do they expect us to raise that money? Most of us here are the bread winners of our families. So where do we get that money from?

“Their motive is to blackmail us, so as to provoke the government officials to take a decision that will be counter-productive, or close down our shops. But we are aware of their tactics. Their stock-in-trade is to foment trouble, but as law-abiding citizens and traders, we will never indulge in corruption.  “We appeal to the governor and government officials to disregard the false information. It is meant to blackmail us and drag the name of government officials in the mud. We are not a party to it.”