Pandemonium erupted today at Bright Street, Main Market, Onitsha, as members of an enforcement team known to traders as Kaban opened fire while trying to escape from angry shop owners.
The crisis began when the operatives moved into the market to confiscate traders’ goods over allegations of street trading and road encroachment, sparking resistance from the affected traders.
Eyewitnesses said the operatives, sensing they could be mobbed by the enraged crowd, fired shots into the air, but in the process five persons were hit.
Two women, identified as Chika a food vendor and a customer who had come to buy goods, were confirmed dead on the spot, while the others, including a watch vendor, were rushed to the hospital with varying degrees of injuries.
The traders alleged that the same Kaban team was responsible for the killing of a trader along Bida Road about four months ago, accusing them of repeated harassment and reckless use of force.
Some traders led by the Chairman of Onitsha Main Market went to the Area Command of the Nigeria Police Onitsha to protest, Meanwhile some Youths weilding dangerous weapons went to the OCHA Brigade office located at Iboku Street Onitsha and Set a Vehicle and two motorcycles ablaze and then looted All the seized properties in the office
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command said he was yet to be formally briefed on the incident, even as nearby markets around Bright Street were shut down in protest.
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