Makinde, Akeredolu meet Ibadan market warring parties, preach peace
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and his Ondo state counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Sunday, visited the crisis-ridden Shasha community in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
During the visit, the governors appealed for calm and peaceful coexistence between the Hausa community and their Yoruba hosts.
Recall that suspected members of Yoruba and Hausa communities in Shasha had clashed on Friday, leading to the death of a cobbler identified as Sakirudeen Adeola, and the destruction of properties worth millions of naira.
Addressing the people at the Shasha market and the Palace of the Baale Shasha, Akeredolu and Makinde urged the residents to stop taking laws into their hands.
Makinde specifically promised to give palliatives to those whose wares were destroyed during the crisis, saying that the two factions should eschew violence and allow peace to reign.
Promising to rebuild burnt properties, the governor said, “Please i want you to listen to me clearly. You cannot resort to self help to solve the issue on the ground. All of you who are here are doing business with one another in one way or the other.
“The last time i came here, about six weeks ago, some shops belonging to Hausa nd Yoruba people got burnt. So, you have been living together peacefully and all i am pleading to you is, no matter what is making anyone angry, we will solve it with patience.
“I was reluctant to declare curfew here because i feel the economic wellbeing of everyone here is important and because this is where you get what you use to feed yourselves. I will engage with your leaders this evening.
“One thing is, if you allow those who don’t have anything to lose here, to blow this matter out of proportion, no one will be able to say where the crisis will end. By the grace of God, i pray we don’t lose any more lives”.
In his remark, Akeredolu, who said he said he was in Oyo State on behalf of the South-West governors, urged every aggrieved party to allow peace to reign.
Meanwhile, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has described as unfortunate recent mayhem at Shasha, in Ibadan, Oyo state.
He said, “I have heard about the unfortunate mayhem and the tragic loss of lives at the Shasha market in the past few days. Shasha market has been a melting pot for traders bringing foodstuffs from the North to the South-West for decades.
“So, when a disagreement arises between individuals or a criminal act is committed by one against the other, we must ensure that we see it for what it is, a criminal act, which must be punished according to law, not an ethnic conflict. Every Nigerian has a constitutional right to live, work and enjoy their lives in safety, peace, under the law”.
In a related development, the O’odua Peoples Congress has called on the President, Muhammadu Buhari to probe Friday’s clash between suspected Yoruba and Hausa communities in Shasha, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo state.
The OPC, in a statement titled, “Investigate Shasha clash, OPC charges Buhari, Makinde”, by its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Oguntimehin, said, “It is on record that no Yoruba native has ever instigated any crisis in the North.
Therefore, i am using this opportunity to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ugly incident, so as to bring the culprits to book and also forestall further crisis”, he said.
