Seventeen months after the Ogun State Government announced plans to relocate the Kara Cattle Market along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway over sanitation and environmental concerns, the market remains fully operational, with open defecation still evident around the area.
Observations by reporters who visited the market and its surroundings on Wednesday showed that sections of the expressway median continued to emit a foul odour, with visible traces of fresh human waste, suggesting that the practice of open defecation has not been completely eliminated.
Although it could not be independently established who was responsible for the open defecation, the state government had previously attributed the problem to activities within and around the cattle market.
The relocation plan was announced at the height of public concern over health and environmental risks posed by the situation. However, despite the directive, commercial activities at the market have continued unabated more than a year later.
Findings revealed growing disagreement between market stakeholders and the state government over the status of the relocation order. While traders and market leaders insist that the directive has been cancelled, the government maintains that it remains in force.
Several traders told reporters that business activities have continued without interference. A roasted plantain seller, who identified herself simply as Justina, said the area had recorded noticeable improvement since the relocation announcement.
“The place is far better than before. It used to be very dirty, but now it has improved,” she said, adding that security agencies and government officials no longer harass traders in the area.
Another trader, Zaid Tukur, an electronics dealer who relocated from the North about a year ago, said he was unaware of any relocation order affecting the market.
“I have never heard about any relocation. I have been here for about a year now, and everything has been peaceful. People are no longer defecating around because community leaders will not allow it,” he said.
A member of the market’s executive committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that discussions with the state government had led to the cancellation of the relocation plan.
“There is no more relocation. It has been totally cancelled,” he said, alleging that approval was granted in January 2026 for the market to remain, provided it was renovated and modernised.
According to him, the government allegedly agreed to commission the market after the proposed upgrades.
Another long-time trader at the market also insisted that relocation was no longer being pursued, claiming that traders were offered a financial alternative to relocation. He said sanitation had improved, noting that traders observe environmental sanitation every Thursday in line with government directives.
However, the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, dismissed the claims, insisting that the relocation order had neither been cancelled nor suspended.
Speaking in a telephone interview, Oresanya said there was no agreement between the state government and market authorities to allow the Kara market to remain at its current location.
“The relocation order still stands. There are plans to move the market to the Ogere International Market in a couple of months,” he said.
He also denied claims that traders were issued a bill as an alternative to relocation, describing such reports as false. On the alleged approval allowing the market to stay after renovation, the commissioner said no such document existed.
“I would like to see a copy of that approval. There was no agreement between the government and the marketers to remain there. The relocation order remains in force,” he stated.
The state government had announced the relocation of the Kara market in August 2024 as part of measures to curb open defecation and environmental degradation along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, adding that mobile courts would be deployed to prosecute offenders.
Despite these assurances, conflicting narratives from traders and government officials have continued to raise questions about the actual status of the relocation plan, even as activities persist at the market.
