Three persons have been feared dead and seven trucks vandalised when Yoruba and Hausa clashed at the popular Shasha in Ibadan, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The crisis reportedly began on Thursday afternoon when a man said to have hailed from the Niger Republic had altercations with a pregnant woman in front of her shop.
The man was said to have carried tomatoes in a nylon bag, and on getting to the front of the pregnant woman’s shop, the nylon burst and the tomatoes fell on the ground.
He picked the good ones and left the spoilt ones on the ground. The pregnant woman accosted him and insisted on his packing the remaining tomatoes on the ground, but he refused. In the process, she grabbed the man’s clothes.
A resident of Shasha, Kola Ridwan, disclosed that a shoemaker, Sakirundeen Adeola, who was watching the scuffle, left his shop and went to meet the two of them with a view to resolving the argument. Sakirundeen said no matter what, the man from the Niger Republic should not litre the frontage of the woman’s shop. He got angry and gave the shoemaker a blow. The shoemaker fell down and hit his head against a stone.
He was thereafter rushed to the hospital and died Friday (yesterday) morning. This got his friends and family members angry and they mobilised for retaliation against the man from the Niger Republic who lives among the Hausa. The Hausa also mobilised for battle.
“I can confirm to you that no fewer than seven trucks have been vandalised and looted,” he said.
“Also, many houses have been burnt. It will interest you to know that the security agencies, including Operation Burst, the police and soldiers have allegedly taken side with the Hausa. They stood watching as Hausa burnt houses belonging to Yoruba in the community.
“The Hausa have been mobilising from Akinyele to Shasha and the arson has continued in Shasha. If care is not taken, the crisis may denigrate to an unimaginable level.”
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said: “It was a clash between two social miscreants in which one of the miscreant, Adeola Sakirundeen, was hit by the other and died later while receiving treatment in a hospital.”
He stated that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs Ngozi Onadeko; Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security, Mr Fatai Owoseni, and other police tactical teams have visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
“Massive police deployment and that of the sister security agencies were made to dowse tension. Critical stakeholders have also been consulted to appeal to the people. Normalcy is gradually returning to the area,” Fadeyi said.
