Ambode gives Seven-day quit notice to Oko Baba mechanics

  
Scores of mechanics at Oko- Baba in Ebute-Meta area of Lagos State, who were given a 7- day ultimatum to vacate the place and relocate to Agbowa, during a protest on Thursday, made a passionate appeal to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to reconsider the ultimatum and also find a better location for them to ply their trade.
Governor Ambode, last Monday, while on a visit to Ebute- Meta, promised to transform the place to a tourist attraction and consequently ordered the mechanics at Oko- Baba to move out of the place to Agbowa within seven days. 
The mechanics, under the aegis of Nigeria Automobile Technician Association (NATA), said they were making the appeal because the ultimatum was too short for them.
Besides, they said Agbowa where the governor said they should relocate to was too far, pointing out that having lived in Ebute- Meta for long, it would be too difficult to move their families, even as they expressed fears of losing their customers.
Speaking with newsmen during the protest which took place at Oko Baba, branch chairman of NATA, Wahab Jinaid, who recalled several efforts made by the association to secure the place and developed it thereafter to its present status with over N30 million, appealed to Ambode to show compassion by withdrawing the 7-day ultimatum.
Junaid, who displayed various documents to testify that the local and state governments gave approval of the land in question, in addition to the Federal Government which collects a sum of N122,500 as annual rents, said they were ready to quit the place, but the government should provide a closer place as an alternative.
“We are begging the governor to please reconsider the ultimatum and find a better alternative for us to ply our trade. Agbowa is too far, we have settled here for long and as family men, our families are also living here with us. Also, it would amount to loss of business because our customers know this is the place they can locate us whenever they are looking for us,” he said.
A community leader, Olusaye Ayodapo, recalled that Oko Baba was a notorious place before the mechanics moved in, saying that the mechanics had been law- abiding and keeping in the area.
This was just as he said the 7-day ultimatum was too short, adding, “all these vehicles can’t be moved out of here in seven days.