Abuja traders count losses after violent protests by Okada riders

Although the federal capital territory administration (FCTA) has since ordered an indefinite closure of the popular building material market in Dei-Dei, a suburb of Abuja, following violence protest which started on Wednesday, several residents and traders have continued to lament the consequences of the violence.

The protest which pitted Igbo traders against their Hausa counterparts started when an Okada man crashed into a truck, killing the female passenger of Igbo extraction.

The woman was said to have died in the accident, while the Okada rider sustained injuries.

According to one of the traders, Idris, the motorcycle was burnt immediately in protest over the woman’s death. Three other motorcycles were also burnt.

Dairu Garba, secretary of the tomato sellers’ association, corroborated Idris’ claim.

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“The road safety said they will take the okada man and the corpse of the woman. The people there said they will be the ones to take the okada man. Right there, other okada riders disagreed with them, and insisted they wouldn’t allow the okada rider to be taken away. And that’s how the argument started,” Dairu said.

According to Mohammed Mohammad, the chief Imam of Abu Huraira central mosque, the accident happened outside the gate of the main market, but within minutes, the chaos had spread to the timber shed division and other parts of the market.

“In less than 15 minutes of observing the situation, an unidentified armed man shot a pump action rifle directly through the fence of the mosque,” he said.

The shooting was said to have resulted in the death of five persons — including one person pronounced dead on Thursday morning — while 31 others sustained injuries.

Baba Ado, the chairman of the market, also said a total of five persons were reported dead, with 30 injured.

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Sunday Elijah was surrounded by his ‘boys’ who work with him on menial jobs, said he had witnessed two of such riots — one in 2014 and another in 2015.

“This is the third time I would witness a clash here, but this is the craziest. See my friend here, he is a Muslim and I am a Christian. We have been living and working peacefully in this timber shed for the past 15 years,” Elijah said, while pointing to a man named Shamsudeen.

“Someone was killed outside the market and it spread down here. We just saw people running. At exactly 12pm, I started seeing flames everywhere. My boss’ shop is down. I have two children and a wife. I use the money I make here daily to feed them. I don’t know how to survive this till Monday,” he said.

However, Elijah and other traders in the market accused security operatives drafted to the area of not doing enough to douse the tension.

“Some of them only came to cause more commotion, which is not good in this country we are,” Sunday said.