Hundreds of shop owners were reportedly forced to shut-down
their shops at the Idumota Market, Lagos Island and ordered to go and
join the campaign of Lagos state.
This is coming few days after the Lagos monarch threatened Igbos resident
in the mega city to vote Ambode in the upcoming governorship and state
house of assembly elections this Saturday or risk being thrown in the
Lagos lagoon.
READ ALSO: Femi Fani-Kayode Reacts To Oba Hate Speech
One of the traders in an sms message to reporters said, “We
arrived Idumota market to our shops as early as 8am. Shortly after,
some thugs came, ordering us shut our shops on the orders of Oba Akiolu.
They gave us 10 minutes to hurriedly close shops and join the waiting
vehicles parked in front of his palace, and heading to Orile, venue of
Ambode’s campaign led by the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.”
Some
of the traders who deal in pharmaceutical products in the market told
Blackbox Nigeria that when they arrived the market, some messengers
informed them that Oba Akiolu ordered everyone to close shop and join
buses numbering over 100.
READ ALSO: I Will Not Discriminate Against Any Religious Or Ethnic Group – Ambode
A Pharmaceutical products dealer, said: “We
were shocked at what happened today (Tuesday) in Idumota market. When
we got to the market, we were caught unawares by a purported order from
the Oba of Lagos, directing all traders to close shop and join a bus
heading for Ambode’s campaign.
“We were shocked by this
directive, because we were never informed the previous day (Monday)
about this directive. More worrisome is the fact that I lost millions of
naira because of this self-serving coercion by the Oba,” he said.
Another pharmaceutical products dealer, said:
“I feel this recent forceful directive by the Oba is in fulfilment of
his recent threat to deal with Ndigbo if they fail to vote for his
preferred candidate. But as far as I am concerned, no amount of threat
or coercion will deter me from making my choice at the forthcoming
governorship election in Lagos State.”
Meanwhile, Some of
the Igbos in Lagos in reaction to the Oba’s recent threat, have
promised not to vote for Ambode in the forthcoming Saturday election, daring Akiolu to go ahead with his threat.
READ ALSO: Oba Of Lagos Causes War On Twitter
In reaction to the Oba’s comment, the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the monarch asking him to “retract and unconditionally apologise to Ndigbo” over the death threats
No comments:
Post a Comment