Traders at the popular Kara Market in Isheri, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, have been given till December 31, 2024, to relocate to Ogere International Market along the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway, as the market will cease to exist in that location with the demolition of all stalls, shanties and makeover structures.

          Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Dr. Sam Oyeleye, said the state government decided to relocate the market to restore sanity due to the environmental degradation in the market, disclosing that government was being inundated with reports of indiscriminate disposal of wastes and other environmental nuisances, such as open defecation on the median and road setbacks from the market despite provision of public toilets provided by the government.

 Dr. Oyeleye further explained that the market had been over-stretched with no space for expansion and proper management, promising that the new location at Ogere International Market would have more space for traders to operate in a more controlled environment.

           “The state government will therefore not fold its hands and watch few individuals in the name of trading, deface the environment and spread communicable diseases to millions of residents through open defecation which they have failed to stop despite several sensitisation, appeals and arrests.

"The bad attitude which constitutes an eyesore is also not in tandem with the state government's policy of attracting investors to the state as the nation's industrial hub, so the need to relocate the market for the general good of the state", he said.

He assured cow sellers and other traders of adequate security, saying the relocation would be in phases, starting from the movement of their cattle, to the closing of the abattoir and final movement of other traders, as the closure date is sacrosanct.