>
The Oyo State Government on Thursday shut down Bodija market following a clash between protesting butchers and police.
There was sporadic shooting by the security agencies and a riot by butchers in and around market. As at the time of filing this report, most of the shops in and around the market are closed as most traders left their shops hurriedly as the rioting went on.
The police station in the area was torched by a an angry mob that gathered following the shooting of about four persons. Eyewitnesses said among the dead was a female trader in the market whomwas hit by a stray bullet.
The butchers are resisting the government’s decision to relocate all abattoir in the city’s markets to a central one a Amosun village in Akinyele Local Government Area.
The Bodija abattoir was demolished over the weekend and the butchers staged a peaceful protest at the state secretariat in Ibadan, asking the state governor to stop the move and wait for the decision of the court on the matter.
It was gathered that the clash on Thursday started when some of the butchers accused their leaders of taking gratification from the government to support the relocation order.
The Aare Laatosa Loca Council Development Area (LCDA) Chairman, Mr. Adekunle Oladeji, said the closure is to prevent the loss of lives and property of the citizenry, stressing that It is also to guard against the escalation of the violence in the market to other parts of the state.
Oladeji said that security agencies have been intimated about the situation in the market to maintain law and order.
He urged the people to be law abiding, warning that anyone found wanting will be made to face the full wrath of the law.