To stem the tide of fatal auto-crashes and safeguard the lives of innocent citizens, the Ekiti State Government has reaffirmed its resolve to expedite the relocation of the Iworoko Ekiti Central Market in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area.
This decisive move aims to permanently prevent the recurrence of such tragic incidents.
In the same fashion, the government also promised to expedite action on the installation of a new Alaworoko that had been vacant since 2019, following the demise of Oba Aladejana, to attract development to the town.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Monisade Afuye, made the pledge yesterday while receiving stakeholders from the community led by the Regent, Princess Aladejana, who paid a courtesy visit to her office in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
Afuye, in a statement issued by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, lamented the recurrent cases of killings of traders and other citizens at Iworoko Market, due to persistent vehicular accident, saying such sordid scenarios will be reversed.
The deputy governor disclosed that the state Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, is incurably committed to safeguard the lives of the people.
Adding that the request for the relocation of the central market causing persistent carnages was long overdue.
She said: “Let me sympathise with you on behalf of Governor Oyebanji on the deaths of your indigenes who were killed in road accident that occurred inside the market. I think it had occurred almost four times in five years. This is unacceptable.
“I learnt that the House of Assembly had passed a resolution advising that the market be relocated, which urther signified how significant the relocation is.
“I will convey your message to Governor Oyebanji, and I know something will be done urgently to salvage the situation.”
In the request for the installation of a new Alaworoko, whose stool had been vacant for over five years, Mrs. Afuye counseled the community against resorting to frivolous legal actions that could stall the selection process.
She said: “Go and do your homework very well, we are ready for you. I learnt that there was controversy over the Iworoko Chieftaincy Declaration. This will be streamlined, and the correction will be done very soon.”
In his submission at the parley, the town’s Regent, Princess Bolanle Ogundola, and the President, Iworoko Progressive Union, Tajudeen Fatayo, bemoaned how 15 persons were killed when a truck rammed into the market in 2019.
On the seeming delay in the installation of a new traditional ruler, the regent appealed to the government to dismantle all obstacles and install a substantive monarch, so that she can reunite with her family.
Speaking extensively on the market relocation, Fatayo said: “Just recently, two people died when a vehicle somersaulted inside the market. Sadly enough, four fatal accidents had happened inside the market within five years apart from minor ones.”
Fatayo stated that the community had taken copious actions by identifying a site where the market can be relocated, but expressed resentment at how a family within the town was serving as a stumbling block, by claiming ownership of the parcel of lands owned by the community for ages.
“We want the government to call this family to order. How can they be claiming ownership of every land in Iworoko Ekiti even when they are not the owners of the town? They are even dividing the town into two because of their interest in autonomy. All these are causing disunity and government must intervene to safe our community from crisis,” he said.
Fatayo made a passionate appeal to the government to look into cases of land encroachment rearing its ugly heads on the land belonging to Iworoko Community High School, to safeguard the town’s heritage in the education sector.