At least five persons were today, Thursday, killed in an ethnic clash at the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos.
The clash which grounded business activities and hampered traffic flow for over three hours reportedly started on Wednesday night. Several persons including police officers were also injured, just as buildings were razed.
According to reports, trouble started this morning after members of the Hausa community in the market stormed the Agiliti area to avenge the death of a motorcyclist. It was gathered that the unnamed motorcyclist was assaulted with a cutlass by a Yoruba man and he died on Thursday morning.
The deceased Hausa man reportedly had an altercation with hoodlums as he refused to part with ‘ticket money’ and as he tried to drive off, he unknowingly hit a woman and he was allegedly beaten up by the hoodlums.
This attracted the fury of his colleagues and kinsmen who engaged the hoodlums in a free for all. However, the news of the Hausa man’s death this morning allegedly reignited the fight with some mercenaries imported through the PSP truck.
Our correspondent saw some young men carting away rams whose owners have fled to safety, while others armed with bottles, cutlasses and sticks took over the entire road.
Vehicles were vandalised, shops looted and people rushed to enter into moving vehicles just to flew the scene of the crisis.
Despite the effort of policemen in Ketu Division to stop the riot, the hoodlums continued causing trouble and even injured the uniformed men. However, peace was restored to the area when soldiers arrived the area in three vans.
