Yoruba/Hausa Clash: Oyo Govt Shuts Shasha Market, Imposes Curfew

Oyo State Government has imposed curfew and ordered the immediate closure of Shasha market in Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan following ethnic clash that began on Friday, February 12.

The closure of the market, which is said to be indefinite was announced by Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde on Saturday.

Adisa said the governor gave the order to forestall breakdown of law and order in the area.

The curfew which covers Shasha and the market area, is to run from 6 pm to 7 am.

He warned residents of the affected area to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully, stating that anyone caught perpetrating violence will face the wrath of the law.

The statement reads;

His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde has directed the immediate closure of Shasha market indefinitely following reports of a breach of peace in the area.

The governor has also approved the imposition of a curfew on Shasha. It will run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Residents of the affected area are enjoined to go about their legitimate businesses within the hours stipulated by the law. Anyone caught disrupting the peace of the community will be made to face the wrath of the law.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the ethnic crisis started on Friday as a result of a misunderstanding between cobbler and an cart pusher in the market.

According to NAN, the cart pusher, from the northern part of the country, stabbed the Yoruba cobbler to death with a knife.

The clash continued on Saturday morning with youths unleashing mayhem on one another in the area.

Amid the fear of an ethic uprising, many residents of Shasha community on Friday relocated from their homes to neighbouring communities to avert being caught in the web of a reprisal attack by conflicting groups.

Reports say despite the deployment of police and security agencies in the area, yet to be identified groups razed the Shasha market overnight by burning down some shops, kiosk and wares of some traders.

The Yoruba youths, who were said to be hellbent on avenging the death of a cobbler.

Watch some videos from the ethnic crisis below;

Hoodlums have taken over some areas in Akinyele Local Government, in Ibadan as the ethnic conflict between Yorubas and Hausas heightens. pic.twitter.com/XNbZ77X7mH

— Oyo Affairs (@Oyoaffairs) February 13, 2021