Traders occupying the Police Officers Wives Association, POWA, Shopping Complex, Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos, have raised an alarm over plans by some people who are planning to demolish their complex.


According to the traders, the said people who parade themselves as policemen, are using the name of the wife of the Inspector-General of Police, Elizabeth Egbetokun, to demolish their complex.
In their words, a senior police officer was alleged to have connived with a property developer to displace the thousands of traders in the complex, on the directive of Mrs. Egbetokun.
Speaking to newsmen, former Chairman of the POWA Shopping Complex Phase II, Trust Onyenekwe, said they have 105 shops in Phase II and over 3,000 people are working in the complex.
Onyenekwe said they got an eviction notice that the complex would be demolished without putting their interest into consideration.
He said they are appealing to the authorities to do something; saying their landladies have not issued them any notice to quit.
According to him, they are pleading with Mrs Egbetokun to come to their rescue by intervening in the matter as soon as possible as landladies who are wives of policemen and tenants would be affected by the demolition.
Also, the immediate past chairman of the traders, Tobechuwku Maxwell, lamented the implication of the proposed demolition on their business and families’ well-being.
He called on Mrs Egbetokun, who is the POWA president, to intervene and stop the impostors from carrying out their sinister motive, saying it was not the first time such a demolition threat had come up in the complex.
According to him, we the traders are appealing to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to use his good offices to fish out those behind the illegality.
In his words, if the traders are thrown out of the complex in this harsh economic period, where do they expect us to start from?
“We are appealing to him to help us. We are law-abiding traders trying to make a living through legitimate means. If we are pushed out of the market, thousands of us will lose our means of livelihood, and those who depend on us will also suffer. Please help us, sir.
“The plaza is owned by wives and widows of former police officers and serving officers. In 2019, the complex was marked for demolition and when we inquired from Abuja, we got information that a developer, who was desperate to have access to the complex was the one making effort to chase us out of the complex. Unlike 2019 when we got a notice of demolition, this time we were only told to move out. We are hearing from a grapevine that the developer and others wanted to pull the building down and vandalise our various goods worth billions of naira.”
The Iyaloja of Computer Village, Abisola Azeez, said when the complex was being built, she was part of those who funded the building.
According to her, when we moved in, the agreement they told us they had with the developers was 10 years, because we made initial payment for three years. The issue is that whenever a new person comes into power, they always wanted to do something.
In her words, this time around, they came and said they wanted to demolish the building. We have been keeping the place neat, we procured the transformer and do everything on our own. We have upgraded the complex to a befitting plaza. Surprisingly, I don’t know why they want to dislodge us all and bring new people; there is no structural defect, they shouldn’t use Lagos officials to chase us out.
She said the only time we got notice of demolition was from one achiever property and it turned out to be lie. If they want increments we can sit down and discuss it. The Inspector General of Police should help us.”
Current Chairman, Computer Dealers Association, Tayo Shittu, said some people were hiding under the guise of being sent by the IGP’s wife to demolish the complex.
According to him, we are patriotic Nigerians. We pay our taxes and we also pay our rents regularly. We were told the IGP’s wife gave them two months to finish their work and leave the complex.
In his words, a similar incident occurred exactly four years ago, when a group of persons came and claimed the then IGP’s wife sent them to demolish the complex, which turned out be a lie.
“In order to perfect their act, they brought someone who claimed to be an official of the Lagos State Ministry of Works to measure the whole complex on July 30, 2023, when nobody was around. Our investigation showed that they were fake.
“We deserve a fair treatment because 20 years ago, the complex was a bush and we transformed it to what it is today. We believe it is not possible to carry out such demolition without the knowledge of the head of POWA, which is the wife of the IGP. That is why we are appealing to her to come to our help, as a mother.”
While lamenting that the tenants had invested much in the complex, he urged the IGP and the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to intervene in the matter.
He said all the occupants contributed to buy a transformer to power the complex, tiled the whole floor and many more. It will be very painful to tell us to leave our investment.