By Emma Nnadozie, Albert Akpor and Chioma Anyagafu
Posted to the Web: Saturday, October 22, 2005

LAGOS- THERE was avoidable bloodbath in Lagos yesterday in which no fewer than 10 persons were killed and set ablaze in Iyana Ipaja area in alleged renewed hostilities between factions of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). Scores of others were seriously injured while over 20 vehicles, mostly commercial buses were either vandalized and/or burnt.

But the police confirmed eight dead, adding that others who sustained various degrees of injuries were receiving medical attention in an undisclosed hospital. The actual cause of the clash which paralyzed commercial and social activities at Iyana Ipaja and environs was not immediately known but a version said it was a spill-over fight for supremacy between OPC factions over control of the motor park. However, another version had it that a motorcycle operator popularly known as Okada who himself is a member of one of factions of the Congress and who had been using an unmarked motor bike for a long time in spite of repeated warnings to get it registered, was harassed by some members of the National Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alimosho branch who felt the Okada was being used for criminal purposes.

The unidentified Okada operator, it was learnt, promptly went and narrated his ordeal in the hands of the NURTW to his OPC members who immediately mobilized and subsequently stormed the park as early as 4.00am.

A free-for-all fight between the OPC members and some bus operators sleeping in the parks reportedly ensued during which dangerous weapons were used. Some of the buses were alleged to have been sprayed with petrol and set ablaze.

The fracas which lasted for several hours spread to the Oshodi-Abeokuta road and became more intense as members of the NURTW who were resuming duty for the day joined in the fight. Private vehicles and innocent commuters were not spared either while traders under the bridge scampered for safety. However, when Saturday Vanguard visited the scene at about 10.15am, corpses littered the park while charred remains of persons or vehicles set ablaze were still burning.

Eye witnesses speak

Some eyewitnesses who spoke with our reporters narrated the devastation that brought the entire place to a standstill, and how other fear-filled traders closed their shops while passers-by scampered for safety.

"It was so bad that everybody was just running," said Olufemi Agboola who was at the scene of the crisis. "Nobody can say for sure how it started or what led to the trouble. What we saw was that vehicles were being set ablaze.

"As some of us came close to find out what was happening, we were to see that it was two groups fighting. What we were told was that it was the NURTW and OPC that were fighting. But nobody can say with certainty that this was the true position."

Steve Omorogbe had come to Iyana Ipaja to board a bus to Benin City when the stampede occurred. "I was on my way to Benin (City). I had come to Iyana Ipaja to board a vehicle and suddenly, I saw many people running. Traders who had come out for the day’s business were hurriedly closing their shops.

"Of course, the drivers too were reversing and driving at opposite directions. The trouble continued until a combined team of policemen and soldiers came around and dispersed those who had gathered."

NURTW boss thanks police

The chairman of NURTW in the area, Alhaji Faula Saka confirmed the version of an Okada rider who had operated in the area for a long time without attempt to have his motor bike registered. "Of course, his activities gave room for suspicion. But this is not the time to get into what really happened.

"I can only thank the combined team of policemen and soldiers for their prompt action. Their presence was able to restore normalcy."

The team of heavily armed anti- riot police men led by the ‘Area G’ Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Fakorede had moved in to disperse the crowd that had gathered. An unspecified number of arrests was also made.

...It’s not an OPC affair, says Fasheun

The founder and factional leader of OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasheun, yesterday, distanced his organisation from any complicity in the crisis which rocked Iyana Ipaja and environs. He denied that the violence was as a result of clash of interest between the two factions of OPC.

"The problem did not start as an OPC thing," he said. "I was informed that some people went to the house of one Alhaji Toyin who lives in Ipaja area and destroyed his house on Thursday evening. I learnt that Alhaji Toyin who is an OPC member and now a member of Oodua Resistance Forum knew the people who came to attack his house. So, he mobilized forces at night and went to fight back.

"You see, that’s the information I have, but you can call Alhaji Toyin who is from Oodua ancestry. I have sent my boys to go and find out the details of what happened, but what I can definitely say is that it’s not fight between OPC factions as it’s being speculated. Even though it started with an OPC man, it’s not about a war between the factions. That’s the preliminary result that I got."