Recharge cards sellers in Apapa Local Government Area of Lagos State, may have found a way round their continued stay on the street, as they now make a weekly contribution of N200 to men overseeing environmental issues in the locality.
Before now, the cards sellers within the vicinity went hell of sought, following constant harassment from men of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) attached and stationed at Waterside and the local government secretariat.
It will be recalled that young secondary school leavers, as well as some people laid off from the recent bank purge and housewives had formed the army of recharge cards sellers, even as they use the proceed from the business to take care of themselves and their families. Speaking with Community News, a mother of two who has her point of sales at Waterside Bus Stop, and who will not want her name in print, said the every day disturbance from the uniformed men has since stopped owning to the weekly payment of N200 to assuage them.
She claimed that although, the payment was affecting the income as most of them, except for few of the cards sellers, make between N1000 and N2000 in a month.
According to her, “I prefer we continue to pay the money to them to allow us to continue to trade our wares on the road, rather than their initial attitude where they will cart away people’s wares which may never be recovered again even if you have to go their office to pay the penalty. A young secondary school leaver, Miss Esther Esoh, who is also a card seller on Ladipo Oluwole road, said the collection of N200 by the KAI men was usually done through a third party who in turn will be given his/her own commission from the total money received in the week.
She explained that as a young lady who can no longer rely on her parents and using the recharge cards sales to fend for herself, “the government must come to their aid to check the overbearing nature of the KAI.
They should be directed to leave the cards sellers alone but should always ensure that their environment is always in a clean state.” Recently, traders on the Lagos Island Business District had called on the state government to intervene in the incessant arrest and raiding of their shops by the men of KIA and Central Business District (CBD).
The traders who included shop owners, especially around CMS Bus Stop, Tinubu Square and Marina on the Island, said the activities of KAI and CBD who were employees of the government was inimical to the wellbeing of business activities on the Island.
A wholesale seller in perishable goods, Mrs. Modinant Awolaja, said the KIA and CBD men were found of carting away their wares to their office adjacent to the Muson Centre on the Island, noting that attempt to retrieve them at the close of office hour always proved abortive.
She said traders on the Island were usually made to contribute huge sum of money to allow them stay in their trading places. According to her, “once the men in uniform stay for a week or two they will come back to demand for another round of fees, which if not met on time, will be visited with the officers coming to cart away goods and property of traders.”
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