Ethnic Clash: Tension In Aba As An Hausa Man Was Burnt To Death By Angry Mob (Graphic Pics)

At least three people have been killed in Aba, Abia State, in clashes that started at the popular Ariaria Market on Thursday. The clashes began in the afternoon mostly between Igbo traders and their Hausa counterparts, they said.

Reports say that the crisis started after a member of the Hausa community stabbed and killed an Igbo trader who reprimanded him for urinating near his store. Other Igbo traders rounded the assailant and lynched burnt him to death as seen in the pictures. The news of the incident spread to other parts of the town and a mob gathered and attacked the Hausa community around the abattoir located at Ogbor Hill area of Aba.

Meanwhile reports also have it that a soldier shot and killed two young men yesterday. The unnamed soldier in mufti, reportedly went to the abattoir to smoke Indian hemp after which he refused to pay, claiming he was a soldier. The situation led to a fracas with some boys in the area, who insisted he must pay, without knowing that the man was a soldier.

The said soldier reportedly came to the abattoir yesterday with four of his colleagues in a Hilux patrol van and started shooting indiscriminately. There was commotion in the area as butchers and those who came to buy meat scampered to safety and when the shooting died down, a pig rearer, identified as Ojukwu, was found dead.

It was gathered that when some of the butchers, who saw what happened, sought to know from the soldiers what led to their action, that the trigger happy soldiers shot and killed another butcher. The soldiers reportedly beat four others to pulp and forced them into their van and drove off to an unknown destination. Their action angered the butchers as they were joined by other people in a protest that spread to all parts of the city.