THERE was pandemonium at the Bodija market in Ibadan on Friday as Yoruba
and Hausa traders clashed, resulting in the destruction of goods worth
millions of naira.
No one could say categorically what triggered
the clash, except what many of the traders regarded it as a built-up
anger over the downturn in their economy since the killing of 14 Yoruba
traders in Borno State on May 4 and June 28 this year, where they had
gone to buy beans.
Since the killing of their colleagues (the
second incident) on June 28, Yoruba traders have stopped travelling to
the north-eastern state, where the specie of beans (Oloyin) loved by
people in the South-West is usually found at cheaper price.
However,
Hausa traders in Bodija market were said to have been receiving regular
supply of the commodity from their kinsmen and had been selling same at
exorbitant prices to traders willing to buy and re-sell.
This
had resulted in a hike in the price of beans, which has risen to N550
per measure, against N280 for which it was sold before the Borno killing
of the traders.
Pent up anger, however, boiled over on Friday
afternoon while Muslim faithful were observing Jumaat in mosques,
leading to the disruption of the peace of the entire market.
Different
weapons like sticks, stones and iron rods were freely used, with the
Yoruba traders chanting that they would no longer keep quiet over the
agenda of the Hausa to take over commerce in the market.
One of
the traders, Saidi Baoku, who spoke with Saturday Tribune, alleged that
the Hausa traders in the market were trying to take food off their
tables by killing their business.
He further insinuated that the
killing of the traders in the market was masterminded by the Hausa
traders to pave way for their control of the market, as the Yoruba
traders would no longer be able to go to the North to buy foodstuffs.
He said that the over N40 million lost by the slain traders was not as painful as their lives that were brutally terminated.
“We
have tried to be patient but we have seen that if we don’t fight for
ourselves, these Hausa will continue to cheat us in our own land.
After
all, the driver of the vehicle in which the 10 traders were was not
killed. We want everybody and government to come to our aid and help so
that we don’t die of hunger,” he stated.
Baoku also said that no
one could say what triggered yesterday’s fight but said that the Yoruba
traders just decided to join in the fight because it was for their
cause.
While speaking on the development, the Chairman of Ibadan
North Local Government, Hon. Idris Lapade, told Saturday Tribune that
the market had been shut, saying that prompt intervention of men and
officers of the Nigeria Police, officials of the Directorate of State
Security and Operation Burst, led by the Area Commander in charge of
Agodi Area Command, prevented the crisis from escalating beyond
manageable level.
“We are trying to evacuate the Yoruba before
asking the Hausa to leave, because they might be attacked if they move
out at the same time. The market belongs to the local government; it is
not anyone’s property. All we are trying to ensure is peace,” Lapade
said.
He revealed that there was a security meeting two days
before the incident where it was decided that the two parties should be
invited, adding that leaders of the traders also held a meeting with the
Commissioner of Police a few hours before the crisis, and were yet to
get back to the market when the mayhem broke out.
He opined that the fight must have resulted from built-up tension.
The
Public Relations Officer of the Bodija arm of the Ibadan Foodstuff
Sellers Association, Mr Hakeem Emiola, also corroborated the chairman’s
statement that no one knew how the Friday crisis started, saying that it
was only God that had been helping the executive to contain the anger
of the traders.
He noted that the anger was based on the fact
since the Yoruba stopped going to the North to buy beans, the Hausa over
there had been sending the foodstuff to their kinsmen in Bodija market.
He
said this was what led to the meeting with the police commissioner
where it was agreed that the foodstuff coming in should be shared
equally between the two groups – which was readily agreed to by the
Hausa.
Speaking on the disruption of peace at the market, the
Police Public Relations Officer, Olabisi-Okuwobi, said that the
Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Indabawa, called for a meeting due to
an intelligence report at his disposal that there might likely be crisis
in the market.
“Both parties agreed to toe the path of peace,
but it seems that the youth in the market heard about the outcome and
were not happy with it. They started destroying beans, pepper and other
goods in the market.
However, the police commissioner quickly
drafted several teams of patrolmen, led by the Area Commander, ACP Peter
Okoh, as well as an Armoured Personnel Carrier, to quell the protest,”
she stated further.
Commenting on the development and the
possibility of a spillover of such violence to Osogbo, the Osun State
capital, a top security official said “Osun cannot witness tribal clash
or hostility in any form.”
The official, who pleaded anonymity,
said “Northerners in this state have been coexisting peacefully with
their host communities here, and few days ago, we held a meeting with
Hausa and Fulani traders.”
He stressed that “adequate and
effective security measures have been put in place to sustain the
reigning peace and harmony in all the nooks and crannies of Osun.”
