Lagos State Police Command, has reacted to alleged attacks on Igbo traders at the Ojo local government area after shutting down the Alaba International market to enable them register and obtain their Permanent Voter’s Card on Thursday.
In viral videos, hoodlums suspected to political thugs were seen throwing stones on Igbo traders at Ojo and Igbede areas.
At some places, the traders were asked to go back to their states to register, adding that the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC could only register South-Westerners.
The state police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, on his Twitter handle @BenHundeyin stated “First, this wasn’t about Igbos.”
Hundeyin said, “First, this wasn’t about Igbos. These are the true facts behind the trending videos. The entire Alaba International Market decided to close the market today to enable the traders register for their PVCs.
“A phased closure would have been better. Consequently, the Ojo Local Government venue of the registration was besieged by a mammoth crowd. The situation was made worse by the fact that only one registration terminal was working. One of the people who came for registration made trouble and was challenged by those around.
“Going by simple probability, the attacker or the attacked is very likely to be Igbo. They were simply large in number. However, giving this incident ethnic coloration would not help matters.
“The entire episode lasted a few minutes. Sadly, recordings from those few minutes are still travelling far and wide. Normalcy has since returned and the Divisional Police Officer there is fully in charge of the security situation.”