Five killed, station set ablaze as butchers, police clash

 Abiola Ajimobi; Oyo State governor

At least five people were killed in Ibadan, Oyo State yesterday when butchers and the police clashed at the popular Bodija Market. The butchers protesting the relocation order by the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi. It was learnt that some of the butchers, who didn’t want to relocate to the central ultra-modern abattoir built at Amosun village in the Akinyele Local Government Area, accused some of their leaders of taking bribes from the state government to mobilise them to relocate.

The in-fighting, coupled with the butchers’ refusal to vacate the market, led to the face-off. According to a trader at the market, the butchers “were chasing the mobile police deployed to the market with cutlasses; pelting them with stones. The police initially retreated but the irate butchers chased them, which forced the police to reinforce. Police came back in several vehicles and started shooting as they drove through the sections of the market.

As sporadic gunshots were being heard, everybody started running helter skelter Traders started closing their shops hurriedly. It must have been in the melee that some people were shot dead”. Traders, who showed journalists some spots where the people were killed, said “three butchers were killed. One tailor (a lady) was also shot dead. This is her blood, hair and slippers on the ground. An aluminium seller was also killed when the policemen started firing directly at the people”.

In the rage, the protesters later burnt a police station located within the market. This prompted the state government to immediately order the closure of the market pending when normalcy would be restored. While some of the traders and butchers claimed that five persons were shot dead by the police, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said he could only confirm that one person was killed. The state government, in a statement made available to journalists, signed by Mr. Adekunle Oladeji for the Aare Laatosa Local Council Development Area (LCDA), confirmed the sporadic shooting and closure of the market to avoid loss of lives and property. Oladeji said that security agencies have been intimated about the situation in the market to maintain law and order. He urged the people to be law-abiding, warning that anyone found wanting would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

The Police Commissioner, Mr. Abiodun Odude, who visited the scene, told journalists that he was studying the situation but confirmed that “two persons died”. Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary Bureau for Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnership, Mr. Yinka Fatoki, said the centralisation of abattoir at Amosun was a Public, Private Partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at sanitising the sector and allowing masses, butchers inclusive, to enjoy a better managed and trading-friendly environment to safeguard the health of the masses.

Addressing journalists at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Fatoki said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by all stakeholders for the new facility to be used for 35 years after which the state and local governments in Ibadan would take over its full operation.

He said the butchers were put on notice on the need for them to move to their new site but maintained that a number of them were recalcitrant and resisting the move. Also, the Secretary, the state Butchers’ Union, Alhaji Lateef Olagoke, who represented the state Chairman, Pa Lasisi Alagufon, regretted the clash and attendant loss of lives and property in the market.

Source:New Telegraph