Members of the Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA) on Monday staged a peaceful protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly, alleging unlawful ejection by the state Ministry of the Environment.
The protesters, from the Lagos Mainland chapter of the union, chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards with various inscriptions to drive home their protest.
The placards had inscriptions such as “We do pay our tax”, “NATA is 4 APC”, “We are law abiding citizens” and “NATA, we are responsible citizens”, among others.
Mr Rasak Mumuni, the leader of the protesters, alleged that the state commissioner for the environment on Friday and gave them a three-day notice to quit their location.
“He said that we should leave the place. We are under the Third Mainland Bridge, and the place was used as the equipment office of PGH Construction company.
“The place had been abandoned by the government for over 30 years and it became a hideout of hoodlums.
“We got permission to use the place from the former chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government, Mr Adekanye Oladele.
“We had been trying to get permission for the place before then and we have evidence that the place was given to us,” he told newsmen.
Mumuni, who sought the intervention of the state lawmakers, pleaded with the government to reverse the ejection order since they had been told not to use the roadside as workshops anymore.
He emphasised that they had spent a lot of money on the development of the site to make it habitable.
“We are pleading with the state government to come to our aid because we took care of the site and provided security in the area.
“We have over 1000 members, we just picked representatives from each unit to stage the protest,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Kayode Ayodele, the State General Secretary of NATA, urged the state government to provide an alternative for the technicians before ejecting them.
He urged the government to reconsider the ejection because of its socioeconomic consequence on the people.
No member of the Assembly was around to address the protesters before they dispersed.
