OWODE ONIRIN CLASH: LAGOS POLICE DECLARE SUSPECT WANTED AFTER THREE KILLED, OFFICER CRITICALLY INJURED
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By: Sefiu Ajape
The Lagos State Police Command says it has restored normalcy in Owode Onirin, Lagos, after a violent clash between traders and land grabbers left three people dead and a police inspector critically injured.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Command said the Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, personally led a combined team of operatives from the Operations Department, Police Mobile Force, Rapid Response Squad, tactical units, and the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to the troubled area.
According to the statement, “Consequent on the disturbance of public peace, law and order, blocking of highways and roads leading in and out of Owode Onirin Market as a result of the deadly clash between traders and land grabbers, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, personally led a combined team of Police detachment… and normalcy was restored. The roads were reopened to traffic and people started going about their lawful businesses.”
The Police disclosed that during the clash, three persons sustained fatal injuries and were confirmed dead at the hospital, while a police inspector was seriously injured and is currently in a life-threatening condition at the hospital.
On the identity of the prime suspect, the statement continued: “In the course of preliminary investigation and prima facie evidences available, one Abiodun Ariori, CEO of Prosperous Ariori Golden Venture Limited, is connected to the deadly clash between the traders and the land grabbers. He is hereby declared wanted by the Lagos State Police Command as all efforts to effect his arrest and bring him to justice has so far proved abortive. It is very clear that he has gone into hiding.”
The Command added that Ariori, whose last known address is in Egbeda, should be arrested if seen and handed over to the nearest police station, or reported through the Command’s control room hotlines and official email.
Hundeyin further noted that four policemen allegedly brought into Lagos by the wanted suspect had been identified and detained for going on illegal duty. They are currently facing orderly room trial.
On the Balogun Market incident, the statement clarified: “There was no tribal clash or disturbance between any ethnic groups and the others inside Balogun Market today. 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 11am. 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.”
The Command stressed that “there was no loss of innocent lives or injury to any person or damage to goods and properties of marketers inside Balogun Market.”
Reiterating the call for calm, CP Jimoh urged Lagos residents to remain law-abiding and avoid spreading panic: “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, calls on all residents to remain law-abiding and cooperate with the police Command to sustain existing peace in the state and not to spread fear in the mind of the public as Lagos is generally peaceful.”
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