Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Military operatives on Wednesday, shot into the air to disperse Oregbeni Market women who defied the 24 hours curfew imposed by the state government.
It was learnt that the soldiers who had earlier arrived in three Hilux vans, with a megaphone, warned the market women to leave the market, reminding them that the 24-hour curfew was still being enforced.
An eye witness who witness the heavy shooting said that the women appeared to have stayed longer than the military operatives could tolerate.
“I was trekking down from Ring Road when we ran into the soldiers at Ramat Park shooting to disperse the traders.
“We heard that they arrived at the market about two hours earlier and warned the traders to pack and go back home.
“They started shooting when it appears that the women were not in a hurry to leave the market,” the source said.
Another eyewitness, an old woman who does not want her name in print, said that she was buying food stuff, when the military operatives opened fire and started shooting into the air to scare them.
“I was buying food stuff when they started shooting. Everyone had to hurriedly leave the market”, she said.