THE owner and the occupants of Ogo-Oluwa Shopping Complex, Ring Road, Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State couldn’t believe their eyes when a motor park suddenly appeared at the front of their complex overnight.

They probably considered it a joke and a trivial issue, until a man, simply referred to as Kehinde was said to have come told the owner and occupants of the shopping complex that “The front of this complex has been turned to a motor park. Whatever document backing the ‘No-Parking’ here is nullified. This is our government. And we can do whatever we want.”

Yet, the stakeholders in the complex considered it a trivial issue, until all their efforts to thwart the order proved abortive.

One of the occupants of the complex, Dr Moshood Taiwo, said: “We got the No-Parking and No Hawking’ approval for the complex in April 2006 from the then Chairman of Ibadan South West Local Government. Then, we took appropriate measures within the Police set up and the sign posts were duly erected. We have documents backing it. But Kehinde said, all this has been nullified, without any written

document.”

Dr Taiwo who said that the management of the complex spent N350,000 to concrete the space for the parking comfort of their customers, added that the management of the complex petitioned the Area Commander, Nigeria Police, Iyaganku, Ibadan through its lawyer, but the effort did not yield any result.

“We also notified some top political officials in the state, all to no avail. Instead, some officials who were said to be consultants to Ibadan South Local Government, were arresting those who came to transact business with the people in the complex and packed outside and charged them N7,500 for illegal parking, while the transport workers were attacking our customers,” Dr Taiwo added.

Another occupant in the complex, who spoke on the condition of anonymity alleged that the person actually backing up Messrs Kehinde and Oyelami, who instigated a motor park at the front of the complex, is one Mr Ademola, a senior officer of Ibadan South West Local Government Area in the state.

Corroborating the earlier claims on the incident, another trader in the complex said, the motor part was creating nuisance at the front of the complex, “preventing our customers from patronising us, when they will be paying N7,500 fine because they want to by goods of less than N900.00. Their presence poses security threat to us and even the banks around.

Wakabout’s efforts to speak with the local government chairman, Mr Taoreed Bolaji Adeleke and the secretary, Mr Ademola, proved abortive.