There was tension on Monday at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway as Nigerian traders took to the streets to protest the alleged takeover of retail trading by Chinese businessmen.

The aggrieved traders accused Chinese merchants of abandoning wholesale and moving fully into retail operations inside the complex, a development they said is crippling local businesses. According to them, the foreign traders now own shops and warehouses and sell directly to end users at cheaper rates because they import straight from factories in China.

Some of the protesters also alleged that the Chinese traders obtain phone numbers of Nigerian customers from waybills and contact them directly, thereby cutting off local retailers from their own clients. They warned that if not checked, the trend could push many Nigerian traders out of business.

The demonstration was, however, brought to an end following the quick intervention of the market leadership, officials of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government and operatives of the Lagos State Police Command.

Reacting to the incident on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Traders Association in the complex, Juventus Okpala-Okaka, said the leadership had already taken steps to address the concerns before the protest broke out.

He explained that after receiving petitions from some young traders, the association constituted a special committee to look into the activities of the Chinese merchants.

He said despite that intervention, the youths went ahead to protest on Monday. This, according to him, forced the association’s President to summon representatives of the protesters to a meeting where they were urged to remain calm.

Okpala-Okaka added that the protesters were asked to select 30 to 50 representatives to work alongside the committee and the association’s executives. He disclosed that a follow-up meeting held on Tuesday made substantial progress and that normalcy has since returned to the complex after visits by the local government chairman and the Area E Commander.

Source: Punch Newspaper, TheCable.