Traders at the popular Shasha market in Ojo area of Ibadan on Wednesday called for its relocation to a safer site within Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Alhaji Isa Nallando, the Chairman of Shasha Market Traders Association, told newsmen in Ibadan on Wednesday that the call was in response to threats by miscreants who claim to be landowners in the area.
Nallando said the relocation of the market from the present site would check the simmering tension which could lead to a breach of public peace in the area.
Shedding light on the present crisis, Alhaji Ismail Bamidele, the General Secretary of the association, said that the relocation call was necessary considering the various threats to the traders by the hoodlums.
“Some suspected hoodlums, who called themselves landowners in the early hours of Tuesday, invaded the market and demanded money from the traders.
“They also attacked the traders with knives and machetes,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the police spokesman in the state, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said policemen had been deployed to the market to provide adequate security for the traders and residents of the area.
