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Eke-Ukwu market demolition: 10-year-old boy killed as military men shoot sporadically at protesters

“Up your game in the protection of lives and property in Nigeria” was what the Commander-in-Chief, Muhammadu Buhari told security chiefs but on Saturday, in Owerri, Imo state, the reverse became the case as armed military (34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze) shot sporadically in order to disperse protesting traders – in the process killing a 10-year-old boy, Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, who neighbours have described as a peace-loving quiet boy.

Antecedents:

  • The governor had asked the traders to move to a new site arguing that the market constitutes a serious traffic and security challenge. But the traders and natives of Owerri refused, leading to an impasse even as the government bided its time and plotted its next move.
  • Soldiers were deployed by the Imo state government to maintain law and order in the demolition of the Owerri Main Market known as Eke-Ukwu.
  • The traders were shocked when they turned up for business in the morning to see most of the shops had been demolished. Unable to bear the sight of what had become of their former stores and shops, the traders began a protest.

Reactions:

  • The father of the deceased, Isaiah Ibeanusi, who was in tears at his No. 9 Oguamanam Street residence, close to the demolished market, told reporters that his son died instantly after a bullet hit him on his head. Mr Ibeanusi further said the tragic incident occurred while he was trying to remove his goods during the demolition exercise, which was supervised by the army, police, State Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Air Force. He said, “I told my little son to come and assist me to remove my goods from the shop before the people demolishing the market got to the place. 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.”
  • Army spokesperson for the Brigade, Haruna Tagwai, a lieutenant, denied that its soldiers shot anybody. “Please, don’t go and write what you don’t know. The soldiers deployed to the market did not shoot anybody,” he said when contacted on Saturday.

– We are guessing this is not ‘video-shopped’.

Other reactions:

  • Some of the traders said they were not given enough time to evacuate their goods before the demolition. They accused the security men of colluding with hoodlums to loot their goods. “How can they be shooting at traders who are trying to evacuate their goods?” a trader said.
  • The President-General of the market, Felix Ngoka, at a press conference on Friday, had vowed that they would resist the demolition of the market with their lives. He said they had gone to court and government had been restrained from demolishing the market. He said their ancestors had “warned sternly against the relocation of the market and we will not succumb to any pressure to relocate the market because if we do calamity will befall us. It is better we die resisting it.”
  • The state government, however, described the demolition exercise as peaceful and successful.
  • The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okorocha, Sam Onwuemeodo, said in a statement that “with the relocation of the market to a better area, the government will now go ahead to rebuild Douglas Road and realise its lofty dream of making Owerri a befitting city.” He also denied that anyone was killed during the demolition.

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