It was later gathered that the clash, which witnessed many wounded people, was a result of a leadership crisis. Frightened traders quickly shut down their shops, while buyers, caught in the break out of the melee, scampered for safety.
The Chairman of Electoral Board Committee, Mr. Simon Enedianya and his Chief Security Officer, Mr. Okey Nnamani were among those injured during the attack. Some shops were vandalised by the miscreants who engaged traders in battle.
On Wednesday, a trader in the market said that the situation was still tensed as all traders had been warned to arm themselves with machetes and get ready to defend their shops, wares and body in case there was another clash.
The trader added: “The problem in the market is a single man called Wagana! His tenure had expired but he doesn’t want to leave.
The fight on that Monday was bloody! The Electoral Committee Chairman, Mr. Simon Enedianya was injured. This Wagana and his cohorts used to bring thugs and cult boys to fight the traders. Right now, as I’m speaking with you, all traders had been warned to arm themselves with machetes! Nobody knows when these boys will storm the market again and unleashed another terror. It’s good for us to be prepared! This same Wagana was arrested and locked up last year by the former Area E Commander, Mr. Dan Okoro.” A police source said: “If not for the quick intervention of policemen from Festac Police Station and Area E Police Command, many more of the traders would have been wounded, if not killed. Many of them were arrested and bundled straight to the office of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni. We later heard that the CP called the parties, warned them and settled the matter.”
Whether these traders will take Owoseni’s warnings to heart remains to be seen. Leadership crisis and clashes had often characterized the Alaba International Market. When New Telegraph correspondent got to the market on Tuesday, there was still palpable tension in the air. Some of the traders alleged that the clash was started by one Mr. Emeka, otherwise known as Wagana. He was described as the, “deposed leader of the market.” Traders who ply their trade at the Industrial Section of the market, located at ‘F Line’ were said to have passed a vote of no confidence on Wagana. They alleged that his leadership had been riddled with exploitation and violence. According to them, trouble started on that fateful Monday after Wagana’s leadership was dissolved by the present Executive Secretary of Ojo Local Government. An Electoral Committee, to conduct a fresh election in the market was immediately set up.
It was a situation which Wagana and his supporters didn’t like. Secretary of the Electoral Committee, Mr. Amechi Aneke said: “We’re yet to settle down and carry out our mandate when Wagana and his loyalists gathered miscreants to carry out the violent attack on us! The market has been under crisis and had not conducted election for over five years now! Elections usually generate problems here. “This was why we decided to write a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), zoning the leadership to each state. The chairmanship is zoned to Imo State, vice chairman to Anambara and Secretary to Enugu. The MOU was not honored as Imo State couldn’t produce chairman because of the wrangling between two of their candidates, Sidney Okorie and Valentine Obasi. When this crisis began, Wagana again hijacked the leadership.” According to Aneke, the matter of the leadership was taken to court, but the court gave the Ojo Local Government mandate to take over and settle the crisis, under the past Chairman, Honourable Durosimi. After several appointments, Wagana again, through his connections, took over the position of chairman.
Aneke recalled: “The market wrote to the local government, that it needed a change. It was based on that, that the local government directed and appointed an Electoral Committee, headed by Chief Simeon Enedianya, and Amechi Aneke as Secretary. The legal department of the local government and another staff were saddled with the mandate to ensure that the election was conducted, which had not taken place for five years now!” It was this directive by the local government that Wagana and his loyalists allegedly fought against. They had also fought the appointed Electoral Committee members. “This time around, Wagana organized touts to disrupt peace in the market. They laid siege to the union secretariat, inflicting injuries on traders! Some traders lost their money, jewelry, laptops and clothes,” narrated Aneke. A trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “This Wagana is doing this because he wants to cause confusion in the market and ensure people preparing to conduct election in the market do not succeed. He used to terrorise everybody and uses intimidation to extort us during his rule.”
Another trader said: “We don’t want him to be our chairman anymore! During his rule, we didn’t know whether we were moving forward or backward. Our union secretariat was dilapidated and security under his tenure was not guaranteed. Miscreants overpower us every day. His thugs are the ones in the Task Force. Whenever the union intervenes and collected your debt, the leadership wouldn’t remit your money to you. If you take a case to him, he would tell you to pay him before you presented your case. It was only after you bribed him that the case would tilt in your favour.” Speaking on the matter, Nnamani said he was beaten up by Wagana’s supporters after he had been on several occasions, arrested.
When contacted on the matter, the Executive Secretary, Ojo Local Government, Mr. Sikiru Lawal said that he had conducted meetings with the groups and was still having more meetings with them to fully comprehend and sort out their differences. Sikiru however declined offering details of the Monday crisis, stressing that he would do so when he completed his meetings with the warring factions. Efforts made to contact Wagana to respond to the allegation was abortive. He was not in the market and no trader accepted to have or know his phone number.
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