Tempers flared at the Kwadaso Onion Market in Kumasi on Monday when a joint security taskforce enforced the eviction of traders as directed by the Ashanti Regional Security Council.

After a notice that met an initial resistance by the traders, hundreds of sheds were pulled down at the market under police-military supervision.

The Regional Security Council had cited threats to security and vehicular congestion as reasons for evacuating the traders.

A visit to the site saw aggrieved traders rushing to salvage their wares while excavators demolish their erected sheds.

The traders watched in disarray as the trading space accommodating over hundred sheds was reduced to rubble.

After his one-year mandatory service to the nation, Alhassan Azure entered the onion trading business which has since been his source of livelihood.

He was awaiting the arrival of his trucks of onions from neighbouring, Niger, when the taskforce requested them to evacuate the market.

Speaking to JoyNews, he stressed concern over the situation.

“Now, where do I keep these onions?” he quizzed.

The Kwadaso market is renowned for its role as one of the main onion trading hubs in Ghana; serving the Ashanti region and beyond.

The Ashanti Regional Security Council, in a recent directive, ordered the traders to exit the market, citing vehicular congestion created by heavy trucks that occupy portions of the road close to the market.

Attributing the death of a 45-year-old woman to the activities at the market, the Council concluded that activities at the market posed security threats.

The traders who are not enthused with the move say they have paid monies to some chiefs to secure the space.

Already, the Ashanti Regional Security Council and the Kwadaso Municipal Assembly have secured a place at Atwima Takyiman, a 20-minute drive from the old market, to aid the relocation.

But the affected traders say the new market cannot contain them.

Although some traders are adjusting to the new place, there are concerns.

Meanwhile, the demolition and relocation exercise is ongoing at the Kwadaso Onion Market as the taskforce is erecting a barricade to fend off a possible invasion.

Other traders have however started trading along the shoulders of the road leading to the old market.