Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Fifteen persons were said to have been injured and hospitalised as a result of a bloody clash that occurred at the popular Sasa Market, thickly populated by Hausa and Yoruba traders in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
The market is reputed for the sales of tomatoes, pepper and onions in large quantities. Many trailer loads of the commodities from the northern parts of the country usually offload at Sasa Market.
Early callers at Sasa included Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Shina Olukolu, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. Kehinde Longe; a member of Oyo State House of Assembly, Deacon Olatunde Kehinde, representing Akinyele Constituency II, and Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Special Duties, Miss Ololade Ajibola.
The clash, it was gathered, was caused by a social miscreant, who wanted to excrete in front of a stall occupied by traders selling scrap iron about few metres away from the Sasa Market, and operators of the stall vehemently resisted him and succeeded in preventing him from messing up the place.
The social miscreant reportedly left the scene angrily and mobilised other hoodlums to attack the scrap workers, who were also said to have defended themselves.
Our correspondent gathered that the crisis started brewing on Saturday evening and was managed before it became a full blown one in the early hours of Friday when some people reportedly stormed Sasa Market and freely used dangerous weapons that included knives and cutlasses on their victims.
As this was going on, news went round that Hausa and Yoruba traders had engaged in a bloody clash at Sasa Market, and residents of Ibadan were advised to avoid Sasa on Friday morning.
But for the timely intervention of security agencies, including soldiers attached to a security outfit of the state, Operation Burst, led by the patrol commander, I.P Usalor, Operation Puff Adder, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the crisis could have been deadlier.
When our correspondent visited Sasa Market on Friday, the Chairman of Hausa community in Sasa, Alhaji Yisa Alausa, and the chairman-designate of Sasa Market, Abdul-Waheed Sullaiman condemned the attack on the market, calling for a peaceful co-existence.
Sulaiman and Alausa told our correspondent that the crisis did not start in the market and nobody reported the matter to the leadership of the market, saying such a matter should have been reported to the police. They queried why the market should be attacked.
Deacon Kehinde, representing Akinyele Constituency II in the state legislature, described the incident as very disheartening, saying “the information reaching me is that the troublemakers are the ones picking scrap irons around this province. It is very disheartening and sad because I learnt that a life has been lost. I urge the Yoruba and Hausa in Sasa to live in peace. This country can only make meaningful progress in a peaceful atmosphere.”
Special Adviser to Governor Makinde on Special Duties, Miss Ajibola, said at the scene of the incident that the development was exaggerated, adding: “I don’t think it was anything serious. I am hoping that everything will calm down very soon and people can continue their buying and selling in the market very soon. Both Yoruba and Hausa are one. We are one family. We don’t need all these kinds of fights. The traders should try to live as one. Governor Seyi Makinde is a man of peace and he abhors anything that is anti-peace.”
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Shina Olukolu, who confirmed that nine persons were injured during the fracas, and six persons have been nabbed in connection with the incident, stated: “In the early hours of Friday August 2, 2019, the Division Police Officer (DPO), Ojoo, reported tension and mild conflict allegedly between social miscreants outside the Sasa Market who subsequently penetrated the Sasa Market with a view of causing chaos and looting or stealing from the market men and women.
“Consequently, the police moved in swiftly to restore order and normalcy. But in the process, different genres of the incident were circulated by uninformed, misguided and mischief makers that there was an ongoing clash between the Hausa and Yoruba in Sasa Market, Ojoo, Ibadan.”
Olukolu said he discovered that the genesis of the conflict was between some scrap workers and a social miscreant, who was earlier prevented from messing up their immediate environment two days earlier. He went and mobilised others like him to attack the scrap workers.
The police moved in, he stated, and arrested three of them and took them to court, saying the social miscreants regrouped with a view to causing mayhem in the market “to enable them loot shops and steal products/valuables or cash from the markets’ men and women. The police, once again quickly deployed and restored law and order.
“In the process, nine persons were said to have been injured, while six suspects were arrested and are being interrogated for possible prosecution. In the interim, police are on top of the situation.”
Olukolu, however, warned mischief makers, social miscreants and other criminally-minded individuals, “who are bent on causing chaos or disorder in the state to do a rethink before the long arms of the law catches up with them. The police will not under any circumstance shirk their constitutional responsibilities of protection of lives and property, nor allow any individual or group under whatever guise to disturb the peace of the state. Hence, there is no such situation or scenario as a clash between the Yoruba and Hausa at the Sasa Market.
“Therefore, all law-abiding citizens are enjoined to go about their lawful businesses and duties without any fear of molestation or disturbance of public peace.”
Olukolu also appealed to all and sundry to give peace a chance and allow peace reign in the state.