Lagos Alaba Rago Market Demolition: Our story, By Traders

On the morning of Saturday, August 16, 2025, a significant part of the popular Alaba Rago market in Lagos State was again demolished. The latest in a series of demolitions continued until Wednesday, August 20. Weekend Trust captures the pain, agony and losses of traders.

Alaba Rago is a well-known commercial hub dominated by traders of northern extraction, who have been there for about five decades.

As a popular food, livestock and scrap metal market in the Ojo area of Lagos State, Alaba Rago, which ‘never goes to sleep’, sees hundreds of scavengers and traders milling round buying and selling one item or another on a daily basis.

According to reports, the market, which was established in the late 1970s, attracted Hausa and Fulani traders who specialised in cattle, grains, perishable food items and general merchandise. Overtime, it grew into a full community with mosques, shops, residential shanties and informal banking systems.

Situated along the Lagos–Badagry corridor, Alaba Rago occupies a strategic location for goods entering Lagos from neighbouring West African countries through Seme border,Hit. Read. . More.  —  To Uncover Full News