At least three people have been killed in Aba after ethnic clashes broke out at world famous Ariaria Market, Premium Times reports.
Aba, a commercial hub in Abia State, experienced unrest on the afternoon of Thursday, May 5, 2016, after a member of the Hausa community stabbed and killed an Igbo trader who reprimanded him for urinating near his shop, eye-witnesses say.
The assailant was lynched by an angry crowd that gathered following the murder of the trader, an uncertain source told Premium Times.
But other witnesses and residents said 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, according to the report.
“From that point matters degenerated. Soldiers in nearby barrack are shooting and at least one Igbo trader was hit and killed by a bullet,” an eye-witness says.
Police public relations officer for Abia State, Onyeka Ezekiel confirmed receiving reports of demonstrations in Aba. He said he was on his way to Aba, “with the commissioner to see things for ourselves” and promised more information to journalists in a few hours.
