Clashes Erupt In Abuja Building Material Market, Dei-Dei
Multiple sources said the Dei-Dei clashes started after a trailer allegedly crushed a woman to death after she fell from a commercial motorbike.
Residents of Dei-Dei, a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital in North-central Nigeria, have been thrown into panic following clashes in the building material market on Wednesday, May 18 afternoon.
It is not immediately clear what caused the clashes but videos from the market available on social media show many people running for safety while a large ball of smoke billows.
Multiple sources said the crisis started after a woman fell from a commercial motorbike and was crushed by a trailer.
This, they said led to the burning of the motorbike and thereafter degenerated into a crisis where members of the commercial bike riders were attacking shops.
Some eyewitness accounts said there were gunshots. Shop owners were forced to close their shops to avoid being attacked.
When contacted, Josephine Adeh, spokesperson of the Police in the Federal Capital Territory said the police did not have any update regarding unrest at the Dei Dei market.
“Right now we are there and we are trying to calm the situation down,” Adeh told HumAngle.
When asked about the current situation at the market as well as the number of casualties (if any,) the Police spokesperson said she could not provide “any reasonable feedback on this now until we calm the situation and we would get back to you,” adding that the FCT Police has deployed its operatives “on [the] ground” and is trying to handle the situation.
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