About five people were said to have been gunned down by the police at popular Bodija abattoir market in Ibadan on Thursday.
Police team detailed to enforce movement of butchers to a new centre at Amosun village along Oyo road opened fire on the crowd.
But the commissioner of police, Oyo State, Abiodun Odude, in an interview said “at least, two people were gunned down†in the crisis.â€
Trouble started when the team stormed the market and we’re shooting into the air to scare them away.
An eyewitness informed that the butchers fled the scene, and gathered to appeal to the team to allow them to sell their goodies at least for the day.
This development was considered as a rebuttal by the security forces which the sources said made the combined forces shot at people, killing suspected five people dead in the process.
Eyewitness account revealed that the five people allegedly killed include three butchers; a female fashion designer and a boy picking aluminium scraps by the roadside.
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Furious by the development, the crowd mobilised and headed straight to Bodija market divisional police headquarters, Bodija, Ibadan, and razed down completely.
Cars, power generating sets, chairs, and so many other things were destroyed.
The state commissioner of police, Suisun Odude, was on ground with other senior police officers in the state to monitor development.
The report of the clash, has however, created panic among Ibadan residents as many has taken to social media to warn others to steer clear of Bodija market and its environs to avoid being a victim of the clash.
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Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi earlier in April directed butchers in the 11 Local Governments in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to relocate to the newly built multi-billion naira central abattoir.
The governor during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat said the butchers must relocate, latest by the end of April adding that the new abattoir has state-of-the-art facilities that would promote the hygiene of meat consumers.
www.sojworld.com © June 28, 2018
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