Traders, Security Agencies In Bloody Clash At Balogun Market

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

There was a bloody clash between traders at Balogun Business Association Market, BBA, at the Trade Fair complex and the security agencies over smuggling of banned goods such as rice and groundnut oil by the traders into the market in Lagos.

P.M.EXPRESS confirmed that the joint security operatives comprising Customs, Immigration, Military and DSS stormed the market to impound those smuggled items as contraband in line with the government policy.
However, the security men met resistance in the market; the traders reportedly mobilized, attacked the security men and injured some of them in the process.
It took the prompt intervention of the BBA leadership, security and task force members to rescue the security men alive and in the process some traders reportedly suffered injuries.
It was gathered that the traders smuggled those items through the Nigerian borders into the market and from there they were sold to different buyers across the states.
Based on the information, the security men stormed, gained access into the market and started carting away items such as foreign rice and oil from the shops at Jigawa down to Adamawa plazas.
It was gathered that some of the traders put up a defiant attitude by engaging and resisting them by disrupting them from carrying out their actions. In the process, they reportedly attacked the security men and injured some of them before the joint effort of the President, members of BBA security, task force and market union brought calm. Thereafter, they tried to engage them in a peaceful meeting at BBA gate as the mild protest was heating up the entire complex.

It was gathered that the joint meeting ended with a peaceful resolution courtesy of the President and members of the union. They were then forced to return the bags of rice seized from the traders for peace to reign and warned that members who engaged in sale of foreign rice should desist from such act as they may still have to come back if such persists. They were rightly informed that the market union has a committee for such purpose.

Some of the traders who spoke to P.M.EXPRESS correspondent boasted that they suppressed the security men to submission to leave the market otherwise they would have not left the market alive.
The President of the market could not be reached as his known phone number was switched off as at the time of filing the report. However, the traders confirmed the incident and said that peace returned to the market immediately the security men left.