TRADERS at the Ladipo International Auto Spare Part Market are to petition Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, Usman Baba, inspector general of police and the chief of air staff over the killing of one of them by air force officers.

They are also complaining of constant harassment and intimidation by some member of the Nigerian military.

Jude Nwankwo, president general of the association, stated this to journalists yesterday at his office in Ladipo Market.

Realnews reports that on Tuesday, an air force officer, who is aggrieved over a kick starter of a vehicle he bought seven months ago which is no longer functioning approached the trader who sold it to him to refund the money. In the argument that ensued, the officer shot dead one trader Felix Nnana Onu and four persons who are presently hospitalized.

Onu was 28 years old from Ebonyi State. Others in hospitals are Ifeanyi Enyin, Chindinma Okechukwu, Makwo Ekwuna and one Chikezie.

Nwankwo narrated that the incident was not the first time soldiers would come to the market to harass, and intimidate them, stressing that such nefarious actions of the military against traders in the market must stop.

He said: “It is getting out of hand. They are taking laws into their hands. We are here talking about kick starter worth #3, 500 and somebody is dead and we don’t how many people that have died. We have some of our traders in the hospital. We are taking this matter to the highest authority to make sure that we get judgement”.

The president noted that the Air Force officials were more interested in protecting culprits at the meeting they had with them.

“We told them we are leaving their office to make our report to the necessary quarters. As at Tuesday, we aired our views. It is quite unfortunate that Air Force personnel will enter into the market and start to shoot unarmed civilians directly as if they are animals. The intimidation in their office was too much for us and we left,” he said.

To mourn the dead and in solidarity with those injured, he said the market was closed.

Said he: “We are demanding for justice. Ladipo is the biggest spare part market in the whole of West Africa and for now, we are not talking about money but the life that has been lost”.

Ohio’s Umeh,  lawyer to the Aguyi Ironsi International Market Traders Association of Lagos, lent voice to the traders demand, saying: “Enough; we will not allow it lie low. Nobody for now can say the number of persons that have died because we don’t know. The market is a big place and as such when they invaded the market, people were running for safety. The market has been shut down by the association so we can get to the root of the matter.

“We will send a petition to the IG, Chief of Army Staff, Commissioner of Police and the Governor of the state on this matter. Let the whole world know what happened is wrong. Because you are an army man, you cannot take laws into your hands”, he said.

Stressing such incident has happened in the past, he added that to avoid any recurrence, the traders put up signboard with a public notice that their is no guarantee whenever you buy fairly used items in the market once the item is tested and is working before you make payments.

An witness account, Ajuluchukwu Eseanya said that the incident happened because of the kick starter that the solder bought six or seven months ago, suddenly the thing stop working and he came back to insist as they usually do for a replacement and the matter was resolved but he was not satisfied and the matter went to the public complain committee of the market.

“They were two who came in mufti and efforts were made to attend to him but he was not patient, he left. Someone (Solomon) from the market ran to meet him to plead with him to wait that he will be attended to but he refused.

Eseanya told reporters that later five armed personnel drove into the market and were beaten everyone they see in the market and shot directly at the unarmed traders.  – With reports from the Nation