At least one person has been confirmed dead, and scores of others sustained varying degrees of injuries when traders clashed inside Balogun Market in Lagos State.
As gathered, the clashes started after a trader, Ebuka Adindu, an indigene of Abia State, stabbed another trader, Sodiq Ibrahim, an indigene of Kogi State, during an altercation over money inside the market.
It was learnt that all efforts to rescue Ibrahim proved abortive after he was pronounced dead by medical experts in the state.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the medical experts’ report angered Ibrahim’s friends, who went after Adindu and other traders who were presumed to have supported the trader during the altercation inside the market at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
They added that amid the clashes, Adindu inflicted a self-stab wound to his shoulder and lost consciousness.
Confirming the clashes, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said that normalcy has been restored inside the market.
Hundeyin, however, dismissed claims that the clash was not an ethnic confrontation between the traders within Balogun Market.
“There was an incident of a free-for-all fight between some hoodlums and miscreants in the Balogun Market in the early hours of today at around 11 am.
“During the fight, one Ebuka Adindu from Abia State stabbed one Sodiq Ibrahim from Kogi State to death, and the said Ebuka Adindu, in turn, stabbed himself on the shoulder and became unconscious.
“He is currently under arrest in the hospital, where he is being treated. Investigation into the matter will be concluded, and he will be prosecuted after he has been discharged from the hospital. There was no loss of innocent lives or injury to any person or damage to the goods and properties of marketers inside Balogun Market.
“The Lagos State Police Command wishes to reiterate that the incident is not a tribal clash but purely between miscreants and hoodlums around the Balogun Market.
“Normalcy has been restored. Marketers and the general public on the Island and other parts of Lagos State are encouraged to go about their businesses and other lawful endeavors without fear or apprehension.
”Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Olohundare Jimoh, urged residents to remain law-abiding and cooperate with the Command in maintaining peace across the state.
“He cautioned against spreading panic or misinformation, emphasizing that Lagos remains generally peaceful and secure”.
