The Abibatu Mogaji Model Market, popularly known as Iponri Market in Lagos was abruptly shut down on Saturday February 8 2014 by the state’s market leader, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo.
Tinubu-Ojo is the daughter of a national leader of the All Progressives Congress and a former Governor of the state, Bola Tinubu.
Some traders, under the cover of anonymity, said that no explanation was given for the abrupt closure of trading activities in the busy market.
They alleged that Tinubu-Ojo led a team of policemen and some enforcement officers from the government, to lock up the market on Saturday around 3pm.
Since then, the market premises has been guarded by policemen in a Rapid Response Squad truck parked in front of the market; all commercial activities have been grounded, and some of the traders sit in groups, lamenting the situation.
There have, however, been speculations as to the reason for the market closure, with some of the traders saying the development might not be unconnected to a leadership tussle between two people in the market, which led to one of the parties being locked up in the police cell.
Another possible cause, according to others, is the non-payment of market dues to the national association of the traders, which may have been compounded by the fight between the two parties.
