Traders and businessmen from the South-East region have cried out after the Lagos State government demolished 19 buildings at the New Mandela Plaza within the popular Trade Fair Complex.

The demolition exercise which took place on Thursday under tight security which saw convoys of trucks from the Lagos State Task Force, Rapid Response Squad, and other tactical teams stationed around the plaza, led to lamentation by the owners of the plaza and traders who said they were targeted by the Lagos government and powerful Yoruba businessmen who are bent on chasing them out of the state.

A video of the demolition exercise which was shared on social media platforms, showed the excavators bringing down the buildings, some of which were high rise storey buildings which were reduced to rubbles in a matter of hours.

However, the demolition of the buildings did not go down well with the owners and other traders who believe they are being unduly targeted.

The demolition of the plaza also sparked outrage on social media with many commenters insisting that the exercise was meant to cripple the Igbo traders and businesses in Lagos which is a clear sign that the Igbos must leave the state.

Read some of the comments from angry Netizens who bared their minds on X (formerly Twitter) between Thursday and Friday below:

@01Chyest:

“Ndi igbo how market? Invest in your land you said no, I don’t want to see tears in any of you guys eye. Tomorrow invest your hard earned resources in another man’s land. Produce that product in a forest buyer will look for you to buy.”

@_Okezie:

“In a country with a high unemployment rate, the only people who provide these jobs, you keep demolishing their businesses and buildings. Nigeria will never move forward with the current happenings.”

@Eze_AnaJekwu:

“Same trade fair federal government abandoned for years until IGBOs came there and gave it value. Now the Lagos s5tate government has claimed that the structures we built in it are suddenly cause of Lagos flooding.”

@ammr_josh:

“90% of these buildings are owned by IGBO’s, and guess what, they legally bought this land, got government clearance to build these structures for business purposes. This is the same Trade Fair that Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu warned the Igbo’s in Lagos about not to invest in or develop.”

@Transparen70:

“My advice to Igbo traders to invest in your state, make your state your head office and bulk of your storage facilities in the east.

Create distribution branches in other states like Lagos and semi warehouses. Clear your goods from Onne. Onne port is very functional now.”

@ufiuzonnu:

“There’s something not right about Lagos and the way it treats its inhabitants. Even Pharaoh, with all the might exercised some restraint. I’m compelled to believe that this random demolition are calculated and targeted along tribal lines.”

@Phillips:

“What is not right is the nzogbu nzogbu behavior where a man believes he can bribe is way through any problems this is always the end result most times they are warned but they will go ahead and compromise some staff as soon as those ones are transferred they’ll take action.”

@Lydmmore:

“This is utter madness! Would they be compensated? Didn’t they get building approvals before building? Wetin una dey look for go soon happen.”

@Mimijaja4us:

“Sanwo-Olu and Tinubu are very wicked **. They’ll wait for the hapless traders to waste billions building, when the buildings are completed, they come to destroy. Who gave approvals for the buildings? I saw approval papers. Why were they not destroyed at foundation levels?”

@MadeWale:

“It is sad that people’s hard earned money is here wasted, but it’s also an indicator of lawlessness of the society. To be fair the people who gave approvals must lose their job.”

@Babz9ja:

“No one erects structures like these without approval. Who approved the constructions in the first place? The LCDA? This is wickedness.”

@Chimaob:

“What’s the business of Lagos State government in a trade fair complex concessioned by the federal government?”

@Xthercares:

“These are newly constructed buildings ooo, people’s hard earned money oooo. Sometimes I ask myself how these people survive after the government destroyed their livelihoods and investments cause I know what building a house means.”

@LateefKenny:

“Imagine what investors think of government action who ought to prevent the construction from happening in the first place. The inaction of government cost individuals and companies to lose on its investment.” (Saturday Sun)