By Segun Amure
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has condemned the mayhem that broke out at the Shasha market, Ibadan, Oyo State capital last week.
Following the violence, Governor Seyi Makinde had on Saturday slammed a dusk to dawn curfew on the crisis hotspots in Ibadan.
Osinbajo spoke on the crisis while addressing newsmen during a condolence visit to the widow and family members left behind by late Lateef Kayode Jakande, former Lagos Governor who died on Thursday. He visited Jakande’s Ilupeju residence in company of his wife, Dolapo Osinbajo, Sunday.
The Vice President, who expressed concerns over the crisis in Ibadan, asked Nigerians to shun divisive tendencies and embrace brotherly co-existence.
He also asked citizens to provide credible information that would help authorities in smoking out criminal elements from local communities in Southwest and around the country.
Osinbajo said: “I have heard about the unfortunate mayhem and the tragic loss of lives at the Shasha market in the past few days.”
“Shasha market has been a melting pot for traders bringing foodstuff from the North to the Southwest for decades.
“For decades, traders from the North have done business with their brothers from the Southwest and they have lived in peace and even inter-married. Shasha represents unity.”
“When a disagreement arises between individuals or a criminal act is committed by one against the other we must ensure that we see it for what it is, a criminal act, which must be punished according to law. Not an ethnic conflict.
“Every Nigerian has a constitutional right to live, work and enjoy their lives in safety, peace under the law.
“It is the duty of government through the police and other law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute any person who commits a crime against a citizen of this nation. It is the role of the citizen to assist the police to identify the criminals.
“We must never take the law into our own hands, if we do, we will be promoting chaos, and a breakdown of law and order, and all of us especially the most vulnerable amongst us, will be at risk. I urge all community leaders to work together to preserve the brotherly co-existence that our people from different parts of the country have enjoyed in the Shasha market for several decades.
On Governor Seyi Makinde’s intervention, the Vice President said: “I commend the governor for his swift and decisive action and all the law enforcement agencies for their prompt intervention.”
The New Diplomat had earlier reported how violence broke out in the Shasha market during the week over a suspected ethnic crisis between Yoruba and Hausa residents of Ojoo, Moniya area of Oyo State.
