Two days after a clash between Yoruba and Hausa traders at Bodija Market in Ibadan was put down, the Yoruba traders have said they will not leave the market despite its closure by the authorities of Ibadan North Local Government.
A visit to the market on Saturday morning found the traders shifting their ways and lining up both sides of the U.I-Secretariat Road. There were also butchers who had their sales disrupted the previous day with their chunks of meat which were obviously the left-over of the previous day.
Customers had already taken to shopping outside the market, as they were seen haggling over prices of various items like vegetable, pepper, fish, yams and other edible things usually sold inside the market,.
Police patrol teams from different divisions within Oyo State Police Command were seen standing at strategic points to prevent entry into the market as well ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.
However, some of the youths who were seen gathered at the entrance of the market vowed to resist the attempt of the Hausa to take over the control of economy in a part of Yoruba land.
SaheedBaoku who spoke with this correspondent said they would not allow the Hausas to catch them unaware. “We hereby beg all Yoruba to support us in this fight to liberate ourselves from oppression.
“We have been idle and can no longer feed our families because the Hausas have destroyed our businesses. When we were going to Maiduguri to purchase beans, we were selling at cheap price but when they started bring the foodstuff in, the price went up.”
He recalled that the Hausa had always been a problem for them in the market, recalling that even when Bodija Division was burnt by members of the ethnic group living within the market in June 2012 it was the Yoruba that suffered the consequences.
“Despite the curfew placed on the states in the North East, the Hausas are still plying their trade while we sit back at home, suffering. We believe that enough is enough,” Baoku, who was surrounded by other youths, stated.
He spoke further that the issue had gone beyond what the local government could handle, appealing to prominent sons of Yoruba in Ibadan such as AlhajiArisekolaAlao, Senator RashidiLadoja, among others, to come to their aid.
He disclosed that the youths in the market got information that the Hausa had gathered bows, arrows and guns with which they would attack the Yorubas and had hidden themselves in a Hausa mosque close the plank market.
“That is why we decided to come to the market despite the closure order, so that they would not go and destroy our goods,” he added.
A source said that two buses belonging to the Oyo State government, popularly known as ‘Ajumose Shuttle’ were used in evacuating Hausa traders out of the market on Friday, as the Yoruba traders refused to leave, waiting for an opportunity to slug it out with their Hausa counterparts