By Providence Ayanfeoluwa
Traders at Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market have called on the Lagos State House of Assembly to constitute an independent investigative panel to probe the August 27, 2025, killings, which claimed seven lives.
Recall that early this year, over 500 shops were demolished at the market by a popular land grabber (names withheld) who unleashed thugs with the help of police officers to intimidate and dislodge legitimate traders.
The traders made the call during a protest jointly organised by Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights, CHSR, seeking the summoning of Police officers, the land grabber and Ministry of Justice officials.
They further demanded that the Attorney General, Mr Lawal Pedro, SAN, be summoned for questioning over his public misrepresentation of facts; called for compensation and relief for families of the deceased and survivors of the massacre.
They called on the Inspector General of Police to re-arrest the released officers and land grabber for prosecution in Lagos state, where the offence occurred.
Their cry: “Legislate law against land grabbing and police complicity, ensuring stiffer penalities for individuals and state actors who enable such crimes”.
The deceased include: Mr. Seyi Akinboye, 39; Adeoye Taiwo, 29; Dare Mufutau, 32; Aderemi Hakeem, 27; Abraham Temilola, 33; and Wale Adebayo, 29 years old.
Speaking, President of CHSR, Comr. Alex Omotehinse explained that despite pending court actions and petitions, the market witnessed an unprecedented bloodbath when four policemen from Nasarawa State, as acclaimed by the Lagos State Police Command, allegedly hired and brought to Lagos by the land grabber, stormed the market with guns, firing indiscriminately at traders.
Omotehinse said: “By the end of that black Wednesday, six traders lay dead, many others were grievously injured, and about 50 vehicles and countless goods were destroyed.
“The conduct of the Nigeria Police Force in this matter has been shameful. After killings, instead of being tried in Lagos, the officers were secretly transferred to Abuja, subjected to questionable “orderly room trial”, and released on the false pretext of self-defence.
“The Owode-Onirin massacre represents a national shame and a moral failure of governance in Lagos state, it is a tragedy that would have been avoided had the House of Assembly acted upon CHSR’s petitions”.
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