The Oyo State Government has begun demolishing shanties and makeshift structures in the Ojoo area of Akinyele Local Government, following a seven-day ultimatum issued after a deadly clash between Yoruba traders and Hausa scrap collectors left four people dead earlier this month. 

The demolition exercise, which had been anticipated since the ultimatum was announced, forms part of the state’s broader crackdown on structures blamed for fuelling insecurity in the area.

The violence that triggered the government’s action began late one Tuesday night after an argument broke out between a commercial tricycle rider, a Point of Sale operator, and some wheelbarrow pushers over a failed transaction.

The dispute quickly escalated into armed conflict between residents and scrap collectors operating in the area, spreading across the Ojoo and Strabag axis and forcing traders to shut their businesses as security operatives, including the police, the Army, the NSCDC, and Amotekun, moved in to restore order.

In the aftermath, Deputy Governor Bayo Lawal led an assessment visit to the community on behalf of Governor Seyi Makinde, where he cautioned residents against framing the unrest as an ethnic conflict between Hausa and Yoruba communities, insisting that criminality has no tribal identity. He subsequently convened a peace meeting with leaders of both communities, alongside the Akinyele Local Government Chairman, during which the government directed that all illegal structures and persons linked to the crisis be removed within seven days.

Community leaders, including the Chairman of the Hausa Community, Abubakar Musa, and the Yoruba Community leader, Chief Solagbade Azeez, both pledged cooperation with the directive, while affirming that residents from both groups considered themselves one family with no interest in further conflict.

During the peace talks, Yoruba community leaders specifically called for the removal of shanties allegedly occupied by scavengers accused of posing security threats to residents, with youth representatives further appealing to the government to clear the makeshift structures entirely, describing them as havens for criminal activity and firearms.

The government also assured residents that those found culpable in the violence would be arrested and prosecuted regardless of ethnicity, with police confirming that four suspects had already been taken into custody in connection with the unrest.

With the ultimatum having lapsed, the demolition exercise now under way signals the state government’s resolve to follow through on its promise to clear the area of structures linked to the crisis.

Security operatives remain deployed across Ojoo and surrounding communities as the state continues efforts to restore calm and prevent a recurrence of the violence that shook the community.

Photo Credit : X/Oyo Affairs