SAN FRANCISCO, August 26, (THEWILL) – Three people, including a10-year-old boy, have been reportedly killed in a protest by Owerri indigenes in Imo state following the demolition of the popular Eke-Ukwu market in the Imo State capital which turned bloody.
The incident happened on Saturday as the traders were said to have started protesting shortly after the demolition of the market, leading to public disorder during which the boy, Somtochukwu Igboanusi, was shot dead by soldiers invited by the state government to keep the traders in check.
The soldiers, said to be from 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, allegedly shot the boy on the head at close range, while assisting his aged father, Isaiah Igboanusi, a petty trader to evacuate his goods from the market.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers arrived Douglas Road by Mbaise junction in a Hilux van, and started shooting sporadically into the crowd of traders, killing the boy who bled to death as he could not get immediate help because of the continuous shooting by the soldiers.
“I told my little son to come and assist me remove my goods from the shop before the people demolishing the market got to the place,” the bereaved father narrated in gruesome details.
“When we were crossing the road we all raised our hands up but these soldiers just drove by and opened fire and shot my son in the head. The bullet hit him in the eye and came out from the back of his head and he fell and died.
“I want justice. I don’t want the killers of my son to go unpunished. He was just a little boy, he was not armed. I don’t know if I can bear this.”
His death angered the traders and heightened the protests as they fought back and set fire to everything on site resulting in the death of two others.
Controversy began when the state Governor Rochas Okorocha had asked the traders to move to a new site with a plan to demolish the market, ostensibly for road expansion but the traders vowed not to move saying they have an emotional attachment to the market.
On Friday night, government moved several caterpillars to the area and deployed armed security personnel to the area. At midnight, the caterpillars moved in and left the market in rubbles.
When traders turned up for business on Saturday morning, what they found dazed them and the protest began.
The state government has however, denied the allegation insisting that said the demolition was carried out successfully while the Army Public Relations Officer for the Brigade, Lieutenant Haruna Tagwai, denied that the soldiers shot anyone.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said in a statement denied that several people were killed during the demolition insisting that such rumour was part of the effort of enemies of progress to blackmail the government.
“Ekeukwu Market Owerri has finally been moved from its current location at the centre of Owerri, the state capital, to its new location at Ohi near Owerri amid jubilation by patriotic residents. The relocation of the market is in line with the Urban Renewal programme of the state government,” Onwuemeodo said.
“The market was moved Saturday morning and for almost two years the state government has announced its good intention to relocate the market to a more conducive site in the spirit of its Urban Renewal pursuit.
“The government has taken this noble action to equally recover Douglas Road that connects the state with other neighbouring states which has remained a refuse dump for the traders in the market and to deal with once and for all the prevalent criminal activities in the area like robbery, cultism and kidnapping.
“The governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and the Rescue Mission Government which he heads, commend the traders and the people of the state in general for their cooperation and understanding. By the peaceful conduct of the traders, they have shown that they appreciate government’s intension to make Owerri and enviable state capital.”
