Ekiti Traders protest attack on their Market by Bamidele’s thugs
By Alex Omunagbe
The Traders Association in Awedele Neighbourhood Market Ado-Ekiti have accused member of the House of Representatives Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele of complicity in the attack on traders at their Market on Thursday.
Hoodlums wearing T-shirts with the inscription of ‘MOB’ and Bibire Coalition, during Thursday rally by supporters of the lawmaker attacked the traders who were going about their business in the state capital. NigerianEcho reporter saw some traders with different degree of injuries while some have their wares looted by the Bamidele’s supporters and some hoodlums who took advantage.
“Those who came to buy from us were forcefully dispersed amidst shooting. Some of us ran inside the bush others hid in the toilets to escape the hails of bullets that were flying around. One of the Traders volunteered with pain and agony written all over her.
“After they left, we picked some of the bullets on the ground. The terror they visited on us was unimaginable and many of us and our customers sustained serious injuries.”
The market women on thronged the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, to protest the attack on the Awedele Market by the thugs believed to be working for Bamidele.
NigerianEcho was reliably informed that a formal complaint has been lodged at the New Iyin Road Divisional Police Headquarters on the attack of their market.
During their meeting with Oba Adejugbe at his palace on Friday, the Iyalaje of Awedele Market, Mrs. Adefunke Ogunrinde, accused the thugs of turning the market to a war zone. “Everything was peaceful in the market until those boys wearing white T-shirts marked ‘MOB’ came and they were shooting into their air.
The Iyaloja of Ado-Ekiti, Mrs Waye Oso, who led the market women on a protest visit to the Ewi’s palace warned politicians to stop attacking the markets in a bid to capture power.
Mrs. Oso said, “The politicians must stop this and a repeat of this will have dire consequences. We don’t want them to use our market for rally.
“I am not happy that many of our traders were wounded by thugs who fired several gunshots in the market and disrupted transactions in the market.
“We are in the palace to register our protest against the invasion of the market by hoodlums and we want to warn politicians to desist from attacking our markets again because there will be dire consequences if such attack is repeated”
Responding, Oba Adejugbe who expressed his sympathy with the market women promised to summon the feuding politicians into his palace on the issue.
Oba Adejugbe said, “God will not allow what happened on Thursday to repeat itself again. I will summon the politicians to my palace on the need to take it easy when they are carrying out their activities.
“We want politics of development and not politics of violence. We want politics that will provide electricity, water and jobs for our children.
“It is only the living that can vote when election comes and MOB that you have just mentioned here will need people to vote for him because it is only those who are alive that can vote.
