This wasn’t about Igbos – Police react to fight at Alaba market during registration for PVC
Lagos police command has reacted to the fight which occurred at Ojo Local government after Alaba traders closed down their shops to register for Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC).
The spokesperson of the police command, Benjamin Hundeyin stated that it wasn’t about the Igbos.
He added that though the entire Alaba International Market decided to close down their shops to enable the traders to register for their PVCs, a phased closure would have been better.
Hundeyin said the situation was made worse “by the fact that only one registration terminal was working” and only one of those who came for registration made trouble and was challenged by those around.
The police spokesperson said the incident lasted for a few minutes and normalcy returned shortly afterwards.
The statement read:
“First, this wasn’t about Igbos. These are the true facts behind the trending videos. The entire Alaba International Market decided to close the market today to enable the traders to register for their PVCs. A phased closure would have been better. Consequently, the Ojo Local Government venue of the registration was besieged by a mammoth crowd. The situation was made worse by the fact that only one registration terminal was working. One of the people who came for registration made trouble and was challenged by those around.
“Going by simple probability, the attacker or the attacked is very likely to be Igbo. They were simply large in number. However, giving this incident ethnic colouration would not help matters.
“The entire episode lasted a few minutes. Sadly, recordings from those few minutes are still travelling far and wide. Normalcy has since returned and the Divisional Police Officer there is fully in charge of the security situation.”
