Oyo Govt Threatens To Clamp Down On Street Traders

The Oyo State government has announced its readiness to clamp down on traders selling by the roadside and has said that serious steps are being taken to address street trading and other vices.

The chairperson of the Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement Authority ( OYRLEA), Justice Aderemi (rtd.), stated this while participating in a radio program that highlights the activities, achievements and prospects of the Oyo State Government tagged ‘Oro Oyo’.

Aderemi charged citizens to embrace lawfulness and desist from the indecent act of displaying wares in walkways and roadsides, as this now attracts fines and penalties with immediate enforcement.

“We need to maintain a clean environment, orderliness, coordination and sustainability of the infrastructural architecture of the State to attract foreign and local investors for the social-economic development of our dear State,” she added.

It had become worrisome to spend many hours in traffic because of the illegal display of wares on the roads, thereby impeding traffic flow. This was coupled with the adverse and harmful effects street trading was having on the lives of residents and the state’s image.

“Roadside traders should get ready to face the full weight of the law and instant legal consequences”, she added.

Aderemi said an enforcement team from OYRLEA, in collaboration with the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, would be deployed to carry out an all-around operation on intense sensitisation and awareness drive in major market areas like Bodija, Sanngo, New Bola Ige, Oje, Gate, Dugbe, Challenge -Orita, Aleshinloye, Eleyele, Akobo-General Gas, and Bashorun, amongst others.

She added that town criers would move around with the team to create maximum awareness before enforcement occurs.