How Ambode sparked off Fulani-Hausa violence at Agege

Because the Fulani cattle traders refused to fight for the Hausa crap collectors when the Lagos government cleared the shanties along the railway at Agege last Saturday, the Fulani-Hausa community in the area were at each other’s throat Wednesday.

In the violence that followed, 20 Fulani traders got injured, three Hausa men died, while several cars belonging to the leader of the Fulani group were damaged.

According to the head of the Miyetti Cattle Breeders in Lagos, the Hausa traders wanted him to mobilise tribesmen from Ketu, Ogba and other places to protest Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode’s decision to demolish their shacks. The Fulani leader, however, told the Hausa traders to comply, a statement that didn’t go down well with them.

But the Hausa traders believed the Fulani among them encouraged the government to demolish the area so the cattle traders will have enough space. The mutual suspicion, however, climaxed in violence after a Fulani man assaulted and refused to pay a Hausa food vendor.

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According to eyewitnesses, by 1 a.m. Wednesday, some Fulani youths invaded the apartments of the Hausa and killed some of them.

The Hausa also launched their reprisal four hours later, destroying properties and killing a number of cows.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, however, said only one person died in the incident.

“At about 1am today, we received a distress call that there was a serious fight between the Hausa and the Fulani communities in the Abattoir. The report indicated that the crisis started after a young Hausa woman was beaten by a Fulani man,” said Badmos.

According to her, operatives from Area G, RRS and Abattoir division have been deployed to the area to contain the crisis, and normalcy has been returned to the area. Four suspects have been arrested.

A peace parley between the two groups, mediated by the state Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni, has begun.