Traders In Osogbo Raise Alarm Over Threats, Vandalism Of Shops By Suspected Hoodlums

Traders at the Old Garage area of Osogbo, Osun State capital, have raised the alarm over threats and vandalism of their shops overnight on Tuesday.

The traders, who are mainly Igbo phone accessories sellers, claimed they left their shops intact on Monday night only to arrive on Tuesday morning to discover their display glass boxes broken.

Shards of broken glasses were seen scattered on some of the shop floors, while the display glasses clearly carried signs of having been forcefully hit.

The traders reported alleged threats, intimidation and vandalism of their shops by suspected hoodlums operating in the area.

Speaking during an interview, the President of the Traders’ association, Mr Ifeanyi Peter Okoye, said the traders discovered the damage when they arrived at their shops in the early hours of the morning to commence their normal business activities. According to him, several of the glass panels used in their shops had been broken.

Okoye said the traders had, for the past two days, allegedly received threats from some individuals identified by them as area boys operating around the garage. He alleged that the threats were connected to the traders’ presence at some public events, including a birthday celebration of the wife of the state governor and another event held to celebrate the victory of Governor Adeleke.

Okoye complained bitterly that business was being affected and buyers were avoiding their shops owing to fear of possible attacks by the hoodlums. He said they were just ordinary Nigerians going about their lawful businesses, and decried the victimisation.

Another trader, Anayo, who spoke, said, “Since Saturday, we have been getting threats from these hoodlums. They have made good their threat to destroy our business.”

Others who spoke without identifying themselves, out of obvious fear of the unknown, also confirmed the situation, claiming that they are being targeted for reportedly showing support for Governor Adeleke during and after the just concluded elections.

As of the time of filing this report, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, had yet to pick up calls nor reply to messages.

The state had recently been embroiled in tragic garage tussles during and after the elections.