OPPOSITE and around a popular private secondary school at Mobil Junction in the Ring Road area of Ibadan, a sprawling crime empire slowly developed. Several years ago, that area was a beehive of lawful trading where the struggling in Ibadan eked out their living. But with an explosion of criminality across the country and mass migration of unskilled young men from the north, any visitor to that area of Oyo State capital in recent years knew that it was a security disaster waiting to happen. Weird-looking okada riders, in their hundreds, gave life to the cells of criminals there. Many of them from northern Nigeria, some among them suspected to even be aliens without any knowledge of any Nigerian language. Robbery, pick-pocketing and other crimes soon replaced legitimate activities there.
Last Sunday, one man was critically injured allegedly by these okada riders who stabbed and almost killed him but for the quick intervention of the police and the Amotekun. The middle-aged man and marketer of the popular Baba Ijebu lottery game was mobbed and injured while reportedly trying to settle a scuffle between two persons, including one Hausa man, at the makeshift market. A reprisal resulted in a free-for-all there. Many were injured. That incident scared many who wondered whether the hordes of homeless okada riders who dominate that area day and night would not constitute grave security threats to the city.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) during the week warned of plans by terrorists to attack several parts of the country. There are several of such dark spots in Ibadan and other southern cities and major towns. For that Mobil area, however, all atrocities and possible plans of more appear to have ended with the demolition of the shanties there and clearing off of the lawless okada riders by the Oyo State government and the local authorities. Several commentators on social media commended Governor Seyi Makinde for the courage and political will brought to bear on that notorious spot in Ibadan and against its felonious operatives.
It was a den of criminals –LG boss
The chairman of Ibadan South-West Local Government Area, Kehinde Akande, told Saturday Tribune that the dirty, filthy makeshift market area had become a nuisance and a threat to the peace of the city. He said the Sunday incident was not the first of its kind as the local government had received several reports of criminal activities from the market area. The incident that happened on Sunday was not the first; we have been hearing cases of people getting into conflicts, snatching of bikes at gunpoint and other things like that, especially at night. The place had become a menace to commuters and people working and living in that area.
“That place had become a nuisance to the public. We have heard a lot of reports about criminal activities happening there. Again, the place is not safe for buying and selling because it is very close to the express road and no one can tell what can happen there. And since security of life and property is important to this administration in Oyo State, we are taking every precaution to make sure that our citizens are safe,” he said.
Akande said further that efforts by the local government environmental department to bring some level of sanity to the area yielded no results.
He said: “The local government environmental department tried to bring sanity to that place but to no avail. Then we found out that we needed this kind of law enforced there. Besides, that place was not meant to be a market. We did not establish any market there. Moreover, we have provided a better place for the traders.”
The local government boss said a new location around Odo-Ona had been provided for genuine traders who had to move from that area “because the Mobil area is not safe for business. He said the local government had on several occasions served letters to the business owners to vacate the premises but they refused.
“We served them letters several times to vacate the place; that we have provided another place for them but they did not want to leave the place. It has been part of our plan to move them to a new place but unfortunately a problem ensued among them which led to someone being critically injured and put in the hospital.
“The new place is towards Odo-Ona/Gbekuba area and all has been built. We are just waiting for things to calm down and then we meet with all the traders and let them know that we have provided a new place for them and they need to move to Gbekuba.”
Akande added that genuine, legitimate traders there begged the government.
One of the traders, Saheed Muritala, in an interview with Saturday Tribune, lamented the effect of the chaos that occurred at the makeshift market on everyone whose business was there. He said: “We have loans we are paying as small scale business owners. But with the recent occurrence, we cannot carry out our daily business activities there again.”
Muritala, who is one of the market officials, said it had not been easy for them because that was their source of living through which they cater for their families. He said: “It has not been easy for us since the incident occurred. We thank the government for restoring peace here but, as you can see, we are businessmen and women but we cannot continue with our daily trading because the government has cleared up the place. We have loans we are paying on a daily basis as small scale business owners. It is not easy for us as we are still recovering from the expenses we had during the Sallah celebrations.”
Salisu Hamidu, one of the Hausa men doing ‘business’ at the makeshift market, said they had recorded so much loss as a result of the chaos that happened there. According to him, some of his Hausa brothers had to return home because they lost their businesses.
However, a security expert, who begged not to be named when he asked to react to the pleas of the traders, said no responsible government would allow a terror spot to mature in that area in the name of allowing people to trade. He commended the Oyo State government for not playing national politics at the expense of the people’s safety.
Although calm has returned to the area, the tell-tale effects of the chaos won’t go away so soon.
Ganiyat Jimoh, who spoke on behalf of the Iyaloja of the market, said their customers had stopped patronising them since the violent attacks and government’s reaction.
Also, a Point of Sale (POS) agent simply identified as Oluwafemi said the crisis affected his business. He said: “I just made five sales since morning. It is 2.00 p.m. already. If things were how they used to be, I would have made good sales by now.”
A social commentator, reacting to the demolition of the dark spot, posted on the social media: “I must commend Governor Seyi Makinde for the sanity that has been restored to Mobil environs on Ring Road, Ibadan. Those hitherto constituting a threat to the peace and tranquility of that axis of Ibadan have been sent away. Scenic beauty restored as well as free flow of traffic inward Oluyole Estate/Industrial Area.”
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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”
He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.
“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.
According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”
“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.
The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”
“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.
“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.
“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.
Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.
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