Abia To Begin Enforcement Of Ban On Street Trading In 2024

Starting next year, the Abia State Government has warned that it will make every effort to enforce the state’s prohibition on street trade, particularly in Aba, the state’s commercial hub.

While briefing reporters on the results of this week’s State Executive Council meeting, which was chaired by Governor Alex Otti, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, made this revelation stating that street trading in the state had become a menace.

Naija News reports that the commissioner lamented that the state’s street trade had turned into a threat and was negatively affecting recently built roadways.

Kanu said, “With all the efforts the government has made, this menace (street trading) keeps rearing its ugly head, particularly in Aba.

“Incidentally, most of the new roads that the government has constructed, people use them to trade and this will not augur well for these new roads.

“There have been a lot of interface between government officials and the market authorities and in other instances, the culprits as it were, everything has been done but to no avail.

“Despite the fact that this government puts human face in its activities, by the New Year, government will go all out to enforce the law.”

Stakeholders were reassured by Kanu that the government was committed to seeing that Ossah-Okpara Square Road, which is one-carriage way, was finished and put to use this holiday season.