Tension, As News of Four Slain Ibadan Traders Broke

Tension rose at Bodija Market, Ibadan yesterday, as news of the death of four traders of the market who were killed by gunmen on Sunday broke.

The popular Bodija market was shut as a sign of protest, with scores of security agents patrolling the area to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.

Reports say the slain traders, whose names were given as Amodu, Fatai, Nihas and Alaba, were travelling to buy wheat from the northern part of the country when they were ordered to alight from a 16-passenger bus.

They were said to have been identified as Yoruba before they were killed, while other people who are indigenes of the north in the bus were reportedly spared as the Ibadan traders were shot dead face down.

The traders were two kilometres from Dikua village when the incident happened.

A source who spoke on the incident said, “We heard there were 16 passengers in all including four Yorubas who were ordered to lie face down and shot to death.

“This is not the first time. That was how they killed three cattle dealers from here in the same area three days to the Eid-el-kabir festival last October.

“Many of us often contribute money so we could buy in bulk and then share, especially our elders who could no longer undertake such trips.”

On whether the assailants could not have been robbers, the traders insisted that they were not robbers because “if they were, they would have first robbed them of their belongings and money before killing them. But in this case, we heard they first killed them. In any case this was not the first time.”

However, after killing them, the assailants reportedly stole millions of Naira found on their victims.