15 wounded as Yoruba, Hausa cyclists clash

15 wounded as Yoruba, Hausa cyclists clash
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NO fewer than 15 persons sustained injuries on Wednesday as Yoruba and Hausa motorcyclists in Atikankan area of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, clashed.
The skirmish, which paralysed commercial activities in some parts of the city, was triggered by an argument between an officer of the Motorcycle Riders’ Association of Ekiti State identified as Femi Owoeye (a.k.a Safejo) and an Hausa commercial motorcyclist over the N50 union due, which the Hausa rider allegedlyrefused to pay.
The victims, who sustained bodily injuries suspected to be machete cuts, were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).
The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funmiyi Afuye, said the government has ensured that peace returned to the buffer zones and warned that it would deal decisively with anybody who tried to foment trouble in the state.
His words: “The peace Ekiti State has been enjoying under the administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi is phenomenal and we are appealing to people to sustain it.We are brothers here whether you are Hausa or Ekiti because we have been living peacefully together. And the government is taking steps to ensure that people liveharmoniously and go about their normal businesses”.
Narrating the incident, the state Chairman of the Motorcycle Riders’ Association, Mr. Ademo Olu Martins, said: “One of the union officers, Mr. Femi Owoeye, (a.k.a Safejo), asked one Hausa motorcyclist for his particulars, which included his registration papers and receipts for union due, but instead of providing those documents, he went to mobilise his kinsmen who wounded the union officer”.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Maishanu, who assumed office Wednesday, said nobody has been arrested in connection with the mayhem.
He said he immediately dispatched his men to the scene to prevent the matter from assuming a dangerous ethnic colouration.
Chairman of the Hausa community in Ekiti State, Adamu Liman, said some of his people, who were wounded in the fracas, are already receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
He urged his men not to ignore security advice by complying with the state government’s order that they should be relocated to a safe place in the interest of peace.