The Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Command, has reacted to reports of attacks on Igbo traders at the Ojo local government area after shutting down the Alaba International market to enable them register and obtain their Permanent Voter’s Card on Thursday.
AbaCityBlog reports that Igbo traders were attacked on Thursday, 9th of June, after Market union closed down Alaba Market to enable the traders register for PVC in Ojo and Igbede areas of Lagos State.
Several videos showed people scampering to safety as thugs armed with machetes, bottle and stone gave them a hot chase. In one of the videos, a man accused the INEC staff of refusing to register Igbo, adding that they were asked to back to their State and do the registration.
Reacting, the Lagos State Police Command said that the attack was not about Igbos.
The Command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin in a post on his Twitter handle @BenHundeyin stated “First, this wasn’t about Igbos.”
He added that though the entire Alaba International Market decided to close down today to enable the traders register for their PVCs, a phased closure would have been better.
Hundeyin said, “First, this wasn’t about Igbos. These are the true facts behind the trending videos. The entire Alaba International Market decided to close the market today to enable the traders register for their PVCs.
“A phased closure would have been better. Consequently, the Ojo Local Government venue of the registration was besieged by a mammoth crowd. The situation was made worse by the fact that only one registration terminal was working. One of the people who came for registration made trouble and was challenged by those around.
“Going by simple probability, the attacker or the attacked is very likely to be Igbo. They were simply large in number. However, giving this incident ethnic coloration would not help matters.
“The entire episode lasted a few minutes. Sadly, recordings from those few minutes are still travelling far and wide. Normalcy has since returned and the Divisional Police Officer there is fully in charge of the security situation.”
