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The House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele, has been accused of complicity in the attack on traders at the Awedele Neighbourhood Market in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Thursday.
Traders at the market revealed that they were attacked by hoodlums wearing T-shirts with the inscription of ‘MOB’ and Bibire Coalition, during Thursday rally by supporters of the lawmaker..
Many of the traders sustained injuries in the course of the attack with some of their wares looted by the hoodlums.
The market women on Friday thronged the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, to register their protest against the attack on the Awedele Market by the thugs believed to be working for Bamidele.
They also lodged a complaint at the New Iyin Road Divisional Police Headquarters on the attack of their market.
Speaking during their audience with Oba Adejugbe at his palace on Friday, the Iyalaje of Awedele Market, Mrs. Adefunke Ogunrinde, accused Bamidele’s thugs of turning the market to a war zone.
Mrs Ogunrinde explained, “Everything was peaceful in the market until those boys wearing white T-shirts marked ‘MOB’ came and they were shooting into their air.
“Those who came to buy from us were forcefully dispersed amidst shooting. Some of us ran inside the bush others hid in the toilets to escape the hails of bullets that were flying around.
“After they left, we picked some of the bullets on the ground. The terror they visited on us was unimaginable and many of us and our customers sustained serious injuries.”
Another trader at the market, Mrs. Kemi Owolabl, who had a fracture as a result of the mayhem expressed surprise that thugs could invade a market which is not a political arena.
Mrs Owolabi said: “Those who attacked us in the market on Thursday wore MOB vests and I fell down during the shooting incident and I was trampled upon by many people trying to escape from the scene.
“It was the Iyaloja, Mrs. Waye Oso who directed that I be taken to the hospital and paid my hospital bills when she arrived from the journey she undertook.”
The Iyaloja of Ado-Ekiti, Mrs Waye Oso, who led the market women on a protest visit to the Ewi’s palace warned politicians to stop attacking the markets in a bid to capture power.
Mrs. Oso said, “The politicians must stop this and a repeat of this will have dire consequences. We don’t want them to use our market for rally.
“I am not happy that many of our traders were wounded by thugs who fired several gunshots in the market and disrupted transactions in the market.
“We are in the palace to register our protest against the invasion of the market by hoodlums and we want to warn politicians to desist from attacking our markets again because there will be dire consequences if such attack is repeated”
Responding, Oba Adejugbe who expressed his sympathy with the market women promised to summon the feuding politicians into his palace on the issue.
Oba Adejugbe said, “God will not allow what happened on Thursday to repeat itself again. I will summon the politicians to my palace on the need to take it easy when they are carrying out their activities.
“We want politics of development and not politics of violence. We want politics that will provide electricity, water and jobs for our children.
“It is only the living that can vote when election comes and MOB that you have just mentioned here will need people to vote for him because it is only those who are alive that can vote.
“I will invite them to play politics with maturity because they are just starting, the election is next year.
“So I thank you for coming here and for conducting yourselves peacefully and I pray that we shall continue to enjoy peace in this kingdom and Ekiti State as a whole.”
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” – Thomas Jefferson
