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YouandiAllofus:
Post too long for me to read and make an informed opinion. All propagated narratives of un/intent remains insubscribable

Idi-Araba

One of the more recent incidents of ethnic violence involving the OPC took place in Idi-Araba and surrounding areas in Mushin, Lagos, on February 2 to 4, 2002. Clashes between Hausa and Yoruba claimed more than seventy lives. Human Rights Watch spoke to many residents of the area and eye-witnesses of the violence, including members of the Hausa and Yoruba communities, and people from other ethnic groups who found themselves trapped by the violence. Most of them confirmed that OPC members had participated in the violence; however, Human Rights Watch has not been able to ascertain whether the violence was planned in advance by the OPC, or whether OPC members or supporters joined in to support the Yoruba once the fighting between Yoruba and Hausa had already started. A journalist who covered the crisis told Human Rights Watch: "The OPC galvanized people. They just provided the leadership and the others followed. The OPC was like a vanguard. It started off with a minor disagreement which escalated into an ethnic conflict. Many of the people involved didn't even know what had sparked it off until later."

The incident which apparently sparked off the fighting on February 2 was an argument which developed after a Hausa man defecated in an area not intended as public toilet, close to where the OPC was holding a meeting. Some Yoruba (who may or may not have been OPC members) challenged the man and asked him to pay for use of the area as a toilet. The man refused and a fight ensued. He reported the problem to his community. A larger group of Hausa then returned with him to the scene and a fight broke out between them and the Yoruba. According to the leader of the local Hausa community, the OPC then came back in a big group, armed with guns, and started fighting the Hausa, who were also armed. The situation escalated and the fighting lasted for two days.

According to residents of the area, the police did not have any visible presence until the evening of the second day. There were reports that several people were then shot dead by the police. Eventually, the military were also sent in to quell the violence and it was they, and not the police, who finally restored order

By that time, scores of people had been killed, both Hausa and Yoruba; more than a hundred others had been seriously injured; hundreds of houses and public buildings had been burnt to the ground. Most of the victims were adult men, but there were also several teenagers among them, and several women. The majority of deaths and injuries were inflicted with machetes; some people were also burnt to death. Some people were killed in their houses, others as they were trying to flee, yet others were shot at point-blank range or stabbed where they stood. The victims included both Hausa and Yoruba, but the evidence collected by Human Rights Watch indicates that a higher number of those killed were Hausa.

The same journalist told Human Rights Watch what he witnessed:

I went there on successive days. I saw fresh corpses and burnt corpses. In my presence, Yoruba were attacking the Hausa area with guns, machetes and other weapons, and petrol bombs. There were also attacks and killings by Hausa against Yoruba. They were using the same weapons, guns, machetes etc. [...] But most of the attackers were Yoruba. They also attacked some non-Hausa, people from minority groups in the north who were presumed to be Hausa. They were attacked because they were northerners, but they didn't even speak Hausa. Some Igbo were also attacked and their shops were looted.

A Hausa man described what he saw:

I saw the bodies of between thirty and fifty Hausa killed, but I believe there were more. Some of the bodies were rotting and smelling. They were mostly men and about four women. Three women and some men had been burnt. We couldn't identify the faces. One woman had been cut with an axe. She bled to death as there was no one to rescue her. Most of the others were killed with gunshots.

The police had not been given orders to shoot. They were telling people to go back. The police were watching while the OPC were killing people. In some places, there was a shoot-out between the OPC and the police [...].

Makunahatata:
oga go to sleep

Still on Ajegunle

Victims and witnesses of the violence confirmed that the OPC members involved in the violence seemed well organized and that some of them, believed to be their leaders, were giving instructions to others-as illustrated by the testimony above. Another witness said he was sure those who were carrying out the killings were OPC members and described how they operated: "They said `O'odua!' as a signal to others and `Shoot! Shoot!' I knew of two commanders. I saw them openly in communication with each other." Another man said: "One big OPC was giving orders: `Pack everything away! Put fire!'" Another man, who was shot in the head as the OPC opened fire at random, said: "I saw about thirty OPC with guns, stick, pieces of iron, broken bottles. They wore red on their head with their symbol. They were just shouting `Kill them!' and other things which I didn't understand. There were many senior ones among them."

The police failed completely to stop the violence in Ajegunle. All those interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that the police did not intervene at any stage of the killings. The military only intervened on the third or fourth day, after they were called by local residents and community leaders, who had to pay the soldiers themselves to be evacuated to the barracks for safety. A Hausa community leader described how they desperately begged the police for help on several successive days, in vain:

We called the DPO [Divisional Police Officer]. He said he had not received orders to help us. We tried the other DPO in Trinity; he said he had no orders either. We tried the Area B Commander, who had no orders either. We called the Lagos State Commissioner who said he had no orders either.

From the barracks we had to pay ourselves for the police and the mobile police to come. We hired them. We took trucks and trailers and loaded our people on and took them to the barracks for safety. [...] On Wednesday morning, the police were given the order to come here, but they feared the OPC. The OPC were still here.

Thousands of people, the majority of them Hausa, who had been evacuated to the barracks, remained there for one or two weeks until they were sure the violence had ended. While they were there, the OPC looted or burnt their property which was lying in their empty houses.

Many residents of Ajegunle testified to the commission of inquiry set up by the Lagos state government to investigate the violence. They provided detailed information on the number of victims and extent of the damage. For example, a list compiled by the committee chairman of the local Hausa community includes the names of more than one hundred people who were shot dead between October 15 and 19 in the areas known as Hausa Line (Taiwo Street) and Achakpo scrap market, and many others whose property was destroyed. Residents told Human Rights Watch that the government had promised compensation to those affected by the violence. Two years later, none of those interviewed by Human Rights Watch were aware of any compensation having been paid

Still on Ajegunle

An Igbo baker who witnessed the violence explained how the OPC specifically sought out and targeted Hausa residents of the area. He described how the OPC led the operation: "The people that carried out the killings were OPC members. But they were joined by other Yoruba youths. The OPC were in front but a large mob made up of area boys were following behind and helping to apprehend the Hausa. The OPC were not in uniform but some of them had red or white ribbon tied on their heads. They were also carrying guns, charms and machetes." He told Human Rights Watch that he saw them kill at least ten people before he had to turn away:

That morning, some OPC men, around ten of them, came to the street. They looked around but they didn't see any Hausa man. They left. Later, one man went to call them back and showed them where the Hausa men were hiding. They swooped on them and slaughtered them all. They were caught unawares. We were watching them here from our balcony.

They went from house to house bringing the Hausa men out and killing them. They made a bonfire down there in the street. They were bringing out their properties and throwing them into the bonfire. Any Hausa man caught was killed and thrown into the bonfire. It was a terrible experience. I have never seen anything like that. They were killed by cutting their necks with a long knife or by shooting them in the head.

There was one man who sells suya [grilled meat] down there; his name is Mallam Audu. They shot him but the bullet did not penetrate his body, neither could their machetes. They had to strangle him and then club him to death. His body was also thrown into the fire.

[...] Some kind-hearted individuals were hiding the Hausa men because they are our neighbors. One Hausa man ran into my house. I never knew him before. I hid him for three days. It was on the fourth day that we [residents of Ajegunle] invited the navy to come and evacuate them. It was then that all the Hausa men in hiding started coming out.

A Hausa community leader narrowly escaped death after he and a large group of other Hausa were rounded up by the OPC:

On 15 October 2000, at about 7.15 p.m., I met roadblocks manned by people with cutlasses, axes, bottles, pistols, and double-barrel guns. I was in my car. They asked me to stop. There were about thirteen or fifteen of them. They said: "We are OPC." They had a red scarf on their head but no other uniform at that time. They brought me out, took my key, took my car and parked it. They took me to the waterside. There I found many of my own people, more than forty held there, all men. The OPC put firewood. One said: "These are the people we caught. We want to lecture them, then burn them." Another OPC leader said: "Don't kill them here, take them away." They took us to another house. They surrounded us there. They were armed with guns, cutlasses and axes. Another OPC leader came in and checked inside. He said that there were not enough of us, only about forty, and he wanted there to be more than one hundred. He gave orders to his members to find others.

There were about seven OPC commanders giving orders. The younger boys, about ten of them, had guns and cutlasses. The older ones stood by and gave commands in the Yoruba language, which I could understand. For example, when they had stopped me in my car, they said: "Take the key from him. Park the car. Take him to slaughter."

Then I don't know what happened. We heard gunfire and shooting outside. I told my people: "I'm going outside. I will pray and try to escape." I came out with my arms up in surrender. Others followed me in the same way. We passed safely by the place where the OPC were shooting because they were not watching us.

I saw many people killed and burnt vehicles. I saw around seventeen bodies just lying everywhere. I don't know who they were. They were all men, no women.

I reached my house and asked my people what had happened before. They said three OPC had carried a Calabar man who had stolen an iron. They left him with his people there and went back. Then they returned with three buses full of OPC with guns, cutlasses, bottles and sticks. [...] The OPC came looking for the Calabar man. They shot one Hausa man who said he didn't know where he was. Another Hausa man who talked was also shot. We saw that if someone talks, they will get shot. We reported the problem to our leader. The leader went to see what was going on. Meanwhile they had killed another four people. The leader brought the six bodies back.

The OPC went to the main road and stopped people from coming back. They had three buses on the main road. They shot a Hausa boy and left him in the gutter.

On the Sunday, on the roads around here, the OPC was stopping buses and saying: "Where are the Hausa inside? Bring them out, kill them and burn them!" This was happening on the roads from Alaba Suru to Ijora Badia and from Mile 2 to Orile Bus stop, and at Ijora under the bridge where the Hausas do business.

[...] On Thursday, they put dead bodies on a tipper lorry and drove off. All the bodies were together, maybe about one hundred of them. The lorry came only once but it was full.

Some people were killed inside their houses. Some were slaughtered. They put three people in my car and two underneath and burned them. An Igbo man was taken away in front of me. I don't know what happened to him but they burned his car. Just here, more than thirty northerners were killed. Even more people were killed on the roads.

Makunahatata:
Mpuru mmiri pppl too mumu😂😂

Ajegunle

"We get on all right with the Yoruba here. Our only problem is with the OPC."
- Hausa community leader in Ajegunle, September 2002

There were two waves of clashes in Ajegunle, an area of Lagos. The first occurred in around September-October 1999, when Yoruba clashed with Ijaw, in what was seen as the aftermath of earlier, violent confrontations between Ijaw and Ilaje (a sub-group of the Yoruba) in Ondo State. Human Rights Watch did not carry out an in-depth investigation into these clashes, but spoke to some local residents of Ajegunle, who said that more than forty people were killed, most of them men. The victims included both Ijaw and Yoruba. Some were killed with machetes, others were burnt, others were shot dead. The report of the tribunal of inquiry set up by the state government into civil disturbances in Lagos State (see Section VII, 2 below) stated that the fighting did not appear to involve the entire Yoruba community in the area, but was more specifically "fighting between OPC members and Ijaw boys."

The second clash occurred about one year later, in October 2000, this time between Yoruba and Hausa. It was one of the most serious incidents of violence involving the OPC. More than 250 people were killed and at least as many were injured as Yoruba and Hausa fought each other for several days, from October 15 to 19, 2000; thousands of people were displaced by the violence. While both Yoruba and Hausa took up arms and participated in the killings, the majority of the victims were from the Hausa community. Almost all the victims were men, of different ages. According to the Nigerian Red Cross, which provided assistance to those wounded in the clashes, most of the injuries were caused by gun-shots, machete cuts, and clubbing. A foreign journalist who covered the incident said some of the bodies had been decapitated; many of them had been burnt after being killed. He said he saw at least one hundred OPC members, many of them carrying long sword-like knives.

The incident which triggered the violence was a minor dispute between Hausa and Yoruba which occurred after a man accused of stealing some goods was taken by a group of Yoruba to the Hausa community. The Hausa apparently refused to hand over the alleged thief to them, the Yoruba protested, and a fight broke out. Within a short time, the Yoruba had called in the OPC, and the killing spree began. All those interviewed by Human Rights Watch, with the exception of some OPC members, confirmed that the OPC had been central to the violence and that the killings were ethnically motivated. One man who was present during the violence heard OPC members saying: "We have to punish Hausa people here."

A Hausa man who sold meat in Ajegunle explained what happened after the argument over the allegedly stolen goods:

The Hausa men beat up the Yoruba boys [...] The OPC went to regroup, this time armed with guns, charms and machetes. They attacked and killed a lot of Hausa men. Later they extended the killing to us here. [...] They killed sixteen of my colleagues there. They were macheted, shot and burnt here. Those killed included Ali, Musa, Umoru, Bello, Buba, Sani, Mallam Audu, Adamu and his brother, another Adamu, Hassan, and Musa Mohammed.

There was no doubt that the killing was done by OPC. From my hiding place I could see them together with other Yoruba men and boys. The OPC was leading the group. They had white bandanas tied on their heads. Some were carrying guns, machetes, and charms. [...] At the Hausa Line they killed so many people, but the Hausa people also killed some. The people the OPC killed were all lined up on the road. It was a gory sight. There were too many to be counted. [...]

Another Hausa man, who was injured in the violence, also saw several people being killed:

It was on Monday that the OPC came. They tried to burn a shop. I ran into the shop to help the owner remove his goods. I was shot in the chest, in the leg and in the armpit. It was three OPC who did it; all three had guns. One was shooting while the others were standing guard. They also shot three other people, including Dikko. The OPC were wearing red cloth on their heads and dark colored T-shirts. There was general confusion and I couldn't get any treatment. The bullets stayed inside me until two months ago [almost two years later]. Someone gave me some money for treatment and two of the bullets were removed, but one is still there.

I saw five men being killed, in different places. Tsoho [aged fifty or sixty] was killed along Mensah Street. He was shot dead by five OPC. It was on 16 October, the day the mosque was burnt. Abu [aged seventy-three] was also killed on Monday on the street on the way to the mosque. He was also shot by five OPC. Shehu [about sixty-five] tried to assist Abu and was shot by the same OPC group. Gambo [aged about fifty-two] was slaughtered with knives in his house in Alakara. His wife and children aged eleven and seven were there. His wife told us. We rushed there and found his dead body. Bagobari [aged forty-seven] was killed on Sunday on Tolu Street. He was coming home from work. About seven OPC, all with guns, shooting, trapped him near the local mosque. They were shooting at random and he died.

Justiceleague1:



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Pahahhaha

Still on Alaba Market

It has been difficult to confirm the exact number of deaths in Alaba market. Several traders told Human Rights Watch that they knew of at least four Igbo traders who had been killed in just one part of the market and several others injured. It is likely that there were other victims in other parts of the market. A number of Yoruba were also killed when the Igbos retaliated. One trader mentioned that at least four Yoruba were killed, including the local OPC leader: "When I saw how the OPC leader was killed and burnt, I became scared. I decided to rush home. I ran into a roadblock mounted by OPC members. They asked us to raise our hands, they searched us and found nothing and passed us on. That same day, about four Igbo traders were killed in a house at Ajamgbadi."

There was also a clash between the OPC and the mobile police who were called after the civilian police had been unable to restore order. The mobile police commander who led the operation confirmed to Human Rights Watch that both the OPC and some of the Alaba community were armed. He said that as he and his colleagues were talking to the OPC to try to calm the situation down, three OPC buses arrived and opened fire on them. He and a police inspector were both injured.

Some local residents and traders believe that the incident between the landlord and the tenant was just the trigger for the expression of a deeper, underlying tension in the area, particularly feelings of jealousy between the local Yoruba community and the predominantly Igbo traders in Alaba. In addition, according to a local resident, the day before the tenant, Ike, was killed, the OPC had killed five other Igbo men. Apparently they too had been killed because they owed rent to their landlord, who had called the OPC in to deal with them. The man who related the incident to Human Rights Watch did not see them being killed, but saw the dead bodies of four of them, three in a compound and a fourth in the gutter; they had apparently died from gunshot wounds. He also saw around thirty OPC members patrolling the area, in two buses; they were easily recognizable by the red bands they wore on their heads and their black T-shirts.

Whatever the real cause of the violence in Alaba, one of its direct effects was to increase ethnic polarization in the area. A market traders' representative told Human Rights Watch: "It was after this crisis that we initiated another association, the Alaba United Traders' Association, for the Igbo traders alone. The former association had comprised every trader in Alaba, irrespective of tribal affiliation. [...] It was a good thing that peace was restored because at a time, we were thinking of acquiring arms and even declaring the Alaba area a Biafran territory."

However, he added that a prominent Yoruba leader had come to apologize to the traders.

Ladyclara002:
Nawa o

Alaba Market

In mid July 2000, a private dispute between a landlord and a tenant escalated out of control and several people were killed in the large Alaba electronics market in Lagos, as OPC members clashed with Igbo traders. The incident began when a Yoruba landlord, who had lost patience with a court case to resolve a dispute with his tenant, called in the OPC to deal with the problem instead. The tenant, an Igbo trader called Ike who dealt in electronic goods in Alaba market, returned from work one day to find his landlord and a group of OPC members waiting for him. On instruction from the landlord who pointed him out to the OPC, the OPC members attacked him, accusing him of being a criminal. Despite his denials, they beat him into a coma, allegedly in the presence of the landlord who did not respond to his pleas for help, even when the OPC set him on fire; he later died from his injuries

Some of the victim's neighbors, wanting to avenge Ike's death, set fire to the landlord's building. The market traders, the majority of whom are Igbo, also mobilized to protest the death of their colleague. According to one of the traders' representatives, when they went to complain to the Baale [local Yoruba leader], OPC members were assembled there and attacked them. Several traders were injured. The traders ran back to the market and tension escalated. The OPC members apparently sought reinforcements and within a short time had invaded parts of the market. They smashed many of the buses owned by the Igbos and barricaded the roads. The traders decided to fight back after they discovered the body of another Igbo man who had been macheted to death by the OPC at a nearby petrol station; he was apparently found dead, clutching a Bible. As the traders tried to defend themselves, and some of them took up arms, the OPC extended the attack to other Igbo residents in the area. The police, who were called to the scene by the chairman of the electronics market association, were initially unable to stop the violence and had to send for reinforcements. Eventually, the paramilitary mobile police brought the situation under control.

The fighting in Alaba market lasted for at least two days. Trading was suspended, although the police advised against closing the market completely to avoid a further escalation. One trader, who was present at the height of the violence, described it as "a big fight. The traders were at the Alaba end of the road while the OPC were at the Ajamgbadi end. The battle was fought at Sabo Onigba between St Patrick and Chemist bus stop. [...] I was watching from a safe distance. When the battle became so fierce, we hid in the shops because it was unsafe to venture out. Some traders were killed outside the market and their bodies dumped in the canal. [...] In the night, the OPC went from house to house searching for Igbos. Some were killed while others sustained serious injuries at the hands of the OPC."

The participation of the OPC was confirmed by several eye-witnesses. One trader told Human Rights Watch that they were wearing OPC vests and carrying charms, and saw a truck full of OPC members. Another said: "I knew it was OPC members that fought with the traders. They were wearing their white vests and white handkerchieves." Other Yoruba youths, who may not have been OPC members, also became involved in the fighting; some of them were armed with knives, stones, and sticks.

Still on Ketu / Mile 12 Market


A Hausa trader described how the OPC were specifically targeting Hausa and Igbo in and around the market. Some northerners who were not even Hausa were among those they attacked:

On 25 November, a young man, Mohammed, was knifed in the belly. He was rushed to hospital and was lucky to survive. They [the OPC] beat a lot of our members who started chasing them out. We went to the main road. The road was blocked. They were stopping all vehicles. They would offload any Hausa or Igbo, kill them and set them on fire. I saw them stopping vehicles. They were a very big group, maybe thousands. Some had OPC uniforms. Other Yoruba also joined in. They were asking people who were passing: `What is your state [of origin]? What is your tribe?' They stopped a northerner who sells provisions. He is not a Hausa; he is from the Zabruma tribe, from Kebbi State. His name is Bako; he is about thirty or thirty-five years old. They asked him which state he was from. He said Kebbi. They said: `Kill him. He's a Hausa man. He's from their states.' They cut him in several places. He managed to run away as the OPC heard the police siren and fled. I saw him face to face. He looked like he could have been attacked with knives or bottles; they used bottles a lot. He swore he would never return to Lagos.

An Igbo trader in the yam market narrowly survived being burnt to death:

That day, at about 9 a.m., we came to the market as usual [...] People said they were seeing movements they didn't understand, in the yam depot. We asked them not to panic. Some leaders went to report the movements to the police at Ketu. [...]

We heard noises, like whistles. Then we heard the main road was blocked. People were running, burning. They were looting yams and vehicles. There was no killing in the depot but there was killing and burning in lots of houses along the road. The next day, we saw corpses [...]

At about 4.30 p.m., I was trying to leave to go home. I was trapped by a group who identified me as Igbo. They said the Igbos were supporting the Hausas, therefore I should be killed. I was thoroughly beaten. They put a tyre around my neck and brought petrol. About ten or twelve people attacked me. They had bottles and sticks and beat me. Some were young and some were middle-aged. [...] It was a miracle they didn't set me on fire. I don't know what happened. Someone pulled me from the ground by the arm and said: "Run! Run!" An okada [motorcycle taxi] appeared from nowhere and told me to sit and we drove off. I was hospitalized for one or two days.

The attack of November 25-26 took place in the context of increasing tension in different parts of Lagos and followed a series of other attacks and incidents of intimidation involving the OPC. A trader at Ketu/Mile 12 market mentioned that some days before the attack on the market, about forty or fifty people wearing OPC uniforms had come to the market and threatened some of the traders: "They attacked Hausa and Igbo boys here. They kicked several of them with their boots. People started running away, shouting `OPC is in the market!' The OPC were telling Hausas and Igbos: `We're giving you fourteen days to leave this place.' They said the place should be controlled by Yoruba. It was a warning, but they didn't kill anybody that day. [...] There were also attacks in other places around. It started from the Tin Can Port. We first heard they had attacked Igbos and others there, including labour leaders. Then it happened at Sagamu, then here. This was all one or two weeks before."

Witnesses of the violence at Ketu/Mile 12 market on November 25-26 described how the security forces had failed to stop the attacks, and only intervened after many people had been killed. A trader told Human Rights Watch: "Eventually the police and army were deployed, after the crisis had lasted for several hours. The police were here while the OPC was busy killing people outside. The military were brought in later." Another said: "The police came after two days and dragged them away. They were not present during the crisis." He also deplored the lack of action on the part of the government: "We have a list of the victims [killed in the food market]. We recorded everything. We sent the list to the federal government but nothing happened. There was no investigation." Another said: "The fight lasted for two days before the police took control of the situation. The market was closed for several weeks and when we resumed business, all our goods had been either destroyed or rotten. I lost all my goods to the crisis. I saw a lot of dead bodies. I know a lot of traders that were killed. [...] I think the government is encouraging these OPC people because the way they carry out their mission suggests that they are not afraid of the law."

Some OPC representatives denied any involvement at all in the violence at Ketu/Mile 12, describing it as "an intra-market issue which did not involve us and in which we have not involved ourselves in any way."

Others denied that the OPC had initiated the fighting but admitted that it had been present; however, they claimed that many people had been killed before the OPC arrived on the scene. As usual they denied having any weapons other than traditional charms, and claimed that the police had supplied the Hausa with guns. They stressed that the Hausa had also been responsible for violence and mentioned an incident in which a group of Hausa men had allegedly killed several Yoruba schoolchildren at the Baptist primary school. Human Rights Watch tried to cross-check this information but was not able to confirm that these killings had actually occurred. A senior school official at the Baptist school confirmed to Human Rights Watch that a group of Hausa had tried to break into the school, but denied that any children had been killed. She indicated that the media reports which had also mentioned the incident at that time had been based on false information.

franchasofficia:
OPC Terrorists, very deadly Yoruba Terror group

Ketu / Mile 12 Market

On November 25 and 26, 1999, scores of people were killed when the OPC clashed with traders in Ketu / Mile 12 market in Lagos. The exact number of victims has not been confirmed, but is estimated to be more than one hundred. A senior police official who was at the scene said he saw an estimated two hundred bodies, but that others had already been buried in mass graves.

The fighting is thought to have been caused by jealousy on the part of Yoruba about the perceived dominance of the market by Hausa traders. There had also been disputes between particular individuals for control of key leadership positions within the market traders' committee. According to some of the traders, some Yoruba had been threatening to challenge this dominance and "claim back" the market from the Hausa. Consequently, many of the victims of the OPC attack were Hausa, or people of northern origin suspected to be Hausa; however, a number of Igbo and members of other ethnic groups were also attacked by the OPC. Some Hausa also attacked and killed Yoruba. Both groups were well-armed. Most of the violence took place in the market and on the roads surrounding it. However, witnesses reported that there were also house to house searches, in which the OPC targeted Hausas and Igbos. Market traders who witnessed the violence confirmed that large numbers of OPC members were involved (some estimated as many as 1,000) and that many of those carrying out the attacks were wearing vests with "OPC" written on them. They carried a range of weapons, including guns, machetes and daggers; some were wearing charms. Some traders believed that OPC members had been drafted in from other areas.

A woman who had been trading in the market for five years said she had never witnessed anything like it: "People were shouting: `OPC! OPC!' We started hearing gunshots. I had to find my way out of the market. [...] The expressway [the main road which runs along the market] was blocked by the OPC. This expressway was turned into a killing zone. For days a lot of dead bodies littered this road. [...] Many traders lost their lives and even some customers that were unfortunate to come to the market at that time."

A representative of the Perishable Foodstuffs Market Association told Human Rights Watch that sixty-eight Hausa traders had been killed in the food market alone; thirty of them were women. The Hausa traders sent a list of the victims they had counted to the Lagos State Governor; dated December 3, 1999, it lists sixty-eight people confirmed dead, including four blind men killed at a mosque; eleven unnamed people burnt at Ketu bus-stop; twenty-four people missing (who were never found), including nine schoolchildren; and details of buildings and property that were burnt or looted.

Sagamu

In mid July 1999, there was a major clash between Hausa and Yoruba in Sagamu, Ogun State. Scores of people were killed. The violence began following an argument over customs observed during the Oro festival, an annual Yoruba event which had not been disrupted by any disputes either before or since 1999. Yoruba and Hausa had agreed to respect a traditional night-time curfew usually observed during the festival. However, according to local residents, a fight erupted between the Yoruba and the Hausa after a Hausa woman was killed by a group of Yoruba because she had broken the curfew. The fighting escalated and the OPC intervened to support the Yoruba. Both sides were armed. At least sixty-eight Hausa were killed, including three boys between the ages of ten and fifteen; some were killed with guns, but the majority were killed with cutlasses. A number of Yoruba were also killed, including one of the Oro leaders. Some people were burnt inside their houses


According to another local resident, two or three days later, the OPC came back to Sagamu in five vehicles, but there was a curfew and they were stopped by the police near the central police station. Local residents reported that there was a shoot-out and that the police killed some OPC members. Some policemen were also attacked by the OPC, including Sergeant Danda Shahibu; the OPC poured petrol over him with the intention of burning him, but he survived.

The OPC, while agreeing that both Hausa and Yoruba were killed in Sagamu, offered a different version of events. They alleged that the fighting was pre-meditated by the Hausa, and that the police in Sagamu had sided with the Hausa and provided them with ammunition. A report on the violence in Sagamu, circulated by the Gani Adams faction of the OPC, states that the OPC "is seen to have been the saviours of the town, as their members, also known as the Oodua Warriors, did battle to save the town.


A Hausa man in Sagamu told Human Rights Watch that after the violence, "the local government gave us forms to fill in for compensation, but nothing happened. Even the Seriki's [Hausa leader] house was burnt. The president, who came here on the Monday, promised there would be compensation, but there wasn't. There was an investigation but nobody was arrested. The governor of Ogun promised to rebuild the Seriki's house, but didn't.


According to an inside source within the OPC, the violence in Sagamu marked a turning point for the Gani Adams faction of the OPC. Fasehun and those close to him apparently had not wanted to intervene, and it was Gani Adams who decided to mobilize large numbers of OPC members as reinforcements to the Yoruba in Sagamu. This decision was popular with many rank-and-file members and resulted in a surge in membership of the Gani Adams faction.

Gave birth to helinues

Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a certified forger and a hardened criminal

YouandiAllofus:
You forgot to mention the tekun ones

Ethnic Clashes


There has been a pattern of killings by the OPC in the context of disputes or clashes with other ethnic groups since at least 1999. Often these clashes were sparked off by a minor argument between two individuals from different ethnic groups, which typically then escalated when the Yoruba party brought in the OPC to fight their cause, while the other ethnic group retaliated by calling youths from their own community to the rescue. The incident would then rapidly degenerate into a violent ethnic conflict within hours, or sometimes within minutes. The widespread availability of small arms and traditional weapons and the readiness of youths from all sides to use them meant that community leaders were often unable to stop the violence or restore calm, despite efforts to do so.

By the time the violence reached its peak in the second half of 2000, hundreds of people had been killed, many by the OPC, others by other groups. Some of the most serious incidents are described below. A journalist commented: "Around 2000 was the worst period of OPC violence [...] The police were incapable of controlling it. The OPC could shut down a whole street [...] Every other week there were clashes."

These clashes had repercussions far beyond the southwestern states or the locations where they occurred. One of the immediate effects was that many Hausa-who were one of the most directly-affected groups-fled the southwest and moved back to the north; some have not returned since. A seventy-five-year-old Hausa man, whose thirty-five-year-old son was killed by the OPC in Ajegunle in October 2000 (see below), told Human Rights Watch: "My son Sahabi was killed. He was on his way home with his family. The OPC stopped them. They pushed his wife and children into the house then slaughtered him. His wife saw it happen. They cut his body into pieces with a cutlass. He had two children. The wife was traumatized. She couldn't speak for two months. She left for the north and has stayed there.

In several instances, attacks by the OPC on Hausa or northerners in the southwest were followed by reprisal attacks on Yoruba in the north. For example, following the killings in Sagamu in July 1999, violence erupted in the northern city of Kano, widely seen as an act of retaliation by the Hausa. Similarly, riots broke out in Minna, capital of Niger State, following the violence in Ajegunle in October 2000. The same has been true in reverse: clashes in the north between Yoruba and Hausa have had repercussions in the south and appeared to strengthen the resolve of the OPC to "fight the Yoruba cause." This was notably the case with the explosion of violence between Christians and Muslims in the northern city of Kaduna, in which an estimated 2,000 people were killed in February and May 2000, and which was followed by violence in the southwest.

The OPC has been responsible for numerous acts of violence and its members have killed or injured hundreds of people. While many of their most serious attacks were directed against Hausa, or people suspected to be northerners, their victims have also included Igbo, Ijaw and people from other ethnic groups. There have even been cases where they have attacked Yoruba, both civilians and policemen. Most of their victims have been men.

Numerous eye-witness testimonies gathered by Human Rights Watch confirmed that contrary to their leaders' denials, the OPC have used a variety of weapons, including fire-arms, machetes, cutlasses, knives and daggers, which they are often seen carrying openly. There have also been several cases where they have poured acid on their victims. Frequently they set fire to the corpses of those they had killed, sometimes after mutilating them. It has been difficult to confirm the sources of the weapons used by the OPC. Small arms proliferate in Nigeria and it is easy to purchase guns and other weapons. In addition, the OPC have sometimes seized weapons belonging to the police or to suspected criminals that they have apprehended during their vigilante activities.

In the cases documented below, the victims and witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that the perpetrators were specifically OPC members, as opposed to other Yoruba. They had been able to identify them in a variety of ways. In some cases, the OPC explicitly identified or announced themselves as OPC. In other cases, witnesses identified them by the clothes they wore: although there is no full OPC uniform, their members typically wear a red or white cloth tied around their head, and wear charms and fetishes. Some wear T-shirts or head-bands with the words "OPC" printed on them. In some cases, they arrived in large convoys of vehicles bearing OPC banners or flags. In a few cases, the victims or witnesses recognized local individuals known to be OPC members.

Most of the incidents in which OPC members have been responsible for killings fall into one of two categories: large-scale ethnic clashes, creating many casualties, or isolated incidents in which individual OPC members have attacked or killed other individuals, for example in the course of vigilante activities or attempts at extortion or theft. In addition, there have been situations where the OPC has intervened or been used in political disputes, such as that in Owo, Ondo State, where it has ended up attacking supporters of rival political factions.

successmatters:
Na the same people, police without certificate following a drug dealer and afraid of paint gun 🔫

What a set of comedians.

Asin ehhhh chickens guarding a drug bulaba.

What a comedy

successmatters:

This guy was employed by Emilokan and getting paid.

Pahahahahahahahaa police say na gas gun.

Commissioner say e never see this kind make of gun before.

Them hold am like exhibit from space

Ever ever

Never forget

Rip

MMM was not done by a Nigerian.

I don't know where you people sit down to drink Agbo and get your Brain filled with gossips

LionTiger:
How old are you?

Don't mind him.

Make pure proper RONU catch your for corner you go understand betrayal first hand no be person go tell you .

Khyrvxjzy:
are we( i and you) among the lazy people?




lol

Pahhahaahahaa

Sai baba

helinues:
If the person doing the below futile efforts work below and wasting time and life away was to be your blood brother, what advise would you give him?

I must send you to go to therapy when I'm done with you on nairaland.

Your mental health must be checked after I fvck with it .

For now good night we resume first thing 5am tomorrow

Khyrvxjzy:
chai npower is a scam

133 million out of poverty hahaha

shame on government

8 years Buhari voodoo

Take pictures and voom

Pahahahah

Helinues the pauper

helinues:
Hahahah, perhaps your present precarious situation hence resorting to trolling as you have given up about everything.

See, when there is life, there is hope, don't give up about life, this futile efforts of trolling others for years would only add to your frustrations cos it has psychological effects. In 5 years from now, this activities is something you will regret of doing cos it's a time waster.

You could have been productive with something instead of wasting it away

So this is the justification of living and dragging house with your parents at 49 ?

successmatters:
Unemployment in Nigeria is only 2 percent now, and they are just lazy people only.

You this Witch boy I see what you did there 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Helinues and yarimo the screamers who chanted APC Sai baba from the depths of Thier inner inner hungry stomach and got sore throat for 8 years

I remember trader money chai Ronu na real gullible fools abeg

helinues:
At least people would be glad to accommodate me cos they know I am not mentally challenged

And you are sure ? It's a superlative combo to be mentally challenged and poor still living with your parents at 49 .

Helinues we no go gree

helinues:
Omo( pikin) is different from Omo( detergent)

Na the later fit do the futile efforts of trolling others for years just because he his not intellectually sound to face others apart from trolling them.

How stoop low can some people stoop

It's time to the neighbors open open up to you.

You need to rent a house very far

helinues:
Is it your poverty, is it your joblessness Mr pokenoser?

You must be useful for me and your parents