Confusion has trailed the cause of a crisis at an abattoir in the Agege area of Lagos State on Wednesday.
This is as traders were sent away by hoodlums armed with machetes and other weapons.
“We had to run for our lives, they (hoodlums) came with weapons,” a meat seller at the abattoir told our correspondent.
The PUNCH gathered that the crisis was caused by a levy imposed on customers who patronised the abattoir by hoodlums in the area.
But a police source said the crisis was caused by a new policy introduced by the management of the abattoir to ensure hygiene.
“When some of the traders were leaving the abattoir this morning, the hoodlums asked for money. They almost stabbed those that resisted. That was what led to the crisis,” an animal feed seller opposite the abattoir said.
During the crisis, it was learnt that passengers in tricycles passing through the route were robbed.
“I saw some guys in hundreds with machets knives and other dangerous weapon at U-turn, Abule Egba. The whole community is in panic. I witness those boys robbing people inside Keke Napep in front of Abimbola Estate inwards abule Egba. I has to run for my life and keep my phone,” an eyewitness, Ayankojo, said.
When cobntacted, the spokesperson for Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said police operatives had been deployed to the scene of the crisis.
“Abattoir area of Lagos State is calm. News of violence is false. Just a minor rancour within the management of the abattoir. Stakeholders already working towards a lasting solution,” he said.
Later, the Lagos police’s Rapid Response Squad posted a picture of its operatives as the scene of the crisis,
The pictures were accompained with a caption stating, “RRS supported by surrounding police divisional units are on top of the crisis in Abbatoir, Agege.
Normalcy has returned to the area while efforts are in progress to completely dislodge the miscreants around the area.”
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