Dei-Dei Crisis: Abuja FCT Minister Confirms 4 Killed, Orders Shutdown of Market

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, has confirmed that at least four people were killed in violence at the Dei-Dei market on Wednesday.

Mr Bello, on Wednesday, also ordered the indefinite closure of the Dei-Dei International Market following a clash between commercial motorcyclists and the traders.

Mr Bello gave the order after inspecting the scene of the incident alongside the FCT Commissioner of Police, Sunday Babaji, Director of State Security Services, other sister security agencies and top officials of the FCT Administration.

Violence spread at the market Wednesday following an accident in which a woman was killed.

Trouble started in the market when a female trader yet to be identified fell off a commercial motorcycle and was crushed to death by an articulated vehicle.

The minister directed the community and the market leaders to fish out the hoodlums responsible for the crisis.

“The community and market leaders must fish out hoodlums and bad eggs among them. Unfortunately, this time around, hoodlums carried arms and they shot innocent people.

“As a matter of fact, I saw four corpses this is very sad and totally unequivocally unacceptable in Abuja.

“We have agreed with security agencies that full-scale investigations will be done, and the communities have to be part and parcel of the solution or else there will be no peace.

“In the interim, the timber market and the surrounding markets, including all the activities on-road that have clustered the road and made it unpassable will all stop until the technical team reviews everything, and then we will take the next decision.”

Mr Bello said that there was no tribal or religious misunderstanding because all the leaders of various communities have lived in peace for many years.

“This is simply the matter of criminals and hoodlums taking the laws into their hands,” he said.

The Vice-Chairman, Timber Shed Market Dei-Dei, Ifeanyi Chibata, told the minister and his team that 45 to 50 shops were burnt with 25 vehicles set ablaze worth a total of over one billion naira.