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By Christopher Oji
A new twist has emerged over the Owode Onirin, Lagos Market crisis, as detectives from the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigations Department, Lagos State Police Command, have commenced an investigation into the identities of the people who were reportedly killed during the recent clash in the market.
The police in the state had claimed on August 27, 2025, that three people were killed during the crisis, while the traders claimed that seven people died during the mayhem.
However, in a dramatic development, reports have it that those who were allegedly killed during the clash were allegedly murdered during a cult war in Ikorodu and not in Owode Onirin Market.
According to a source, the bodies that the police took to the mortuary were found in a river at Ikorodu and not in Owode Onirin.
Sources at SCID Panti, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that detectives visited the Ikorodu Mortuary over the weekend and were investigating how the bodies were linked to Owode Onirin.
One of the counsels to the Chairman/CEO of Prosperous Ariori Golden Venture, Akeem Ariori, who was declared wanted over the incident, Barrister Olayinka Sanni, said, “The police are working on their preliminary investigations so far.
“I know that it will get to this. The CP was there on the day of the incident. My question is, did he see any dead body on the scene?
“The police were quick to declare Ariori wanted, even before any investigation was conducted. The man has all the legal documents showing that he is the rightful owner of the place. Second, he was not on-site during the crisis. Why would he be declared wanted for a sin he didn’t commit?
“Up till now, no single member of the families of those whom they claimed were killed had come to report or make any official statement at the SCID, Panti.
“If truly seven traders died during the crisis at the market that fateful day, let us have their identities, their shop numbers and their photographs. Where are the video clips from the scene of the killings?
“Majority of the traders are using the fact that they are from the same community with the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State to cause pandemonium. A certain land grabber in Ikorodu, from Ilorin, the same place with the CP is responsible for the crisis.
“The police in Lagos or the CP are not even saying anything about the armed men that invaded the market and attacked the policemen, who were on lawful duty. They have invited the Policemen who were on legal duty to Abuja for questioning instead of arresting those who attacked them.
“The policemen were duly approved for my client, and they had been going to the scene of the attack before the fateful day.”
He commended the Lagos State Attorney General for insisting that the rule of law must prevail on the matter.
He said, “The Lagos State Attorney General has demonstrated that he is the number one law officer in this state by insisting on the rule of law. Many times before the attack of August 27, he had called all the parties and their lawyers and explained the position of the law to everybody.
“Three parties are involved: the Local Government in the area, which is the landlord for the traders, my client’s company and the traders themselves.
“After different court judgments in my client’s favour, the Attorney General advised the traders that they don’t even have any issue with my client, as the court had already decided, and he advised them to let him go ahead with construction.
“The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, mandated the Attorney General to mediate, and he did what the law says.
“Just before the attack on the policemen, the traders, led by a certain Sunday, had destroyed my client’s office and carted away building materials.
“The matter is already a matter of investigations by policemen from the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of the Zone had directed the traders to provide the said Sunday.”
However, Sanni called on the Inspector General of Police and the Lagos State Governor to institute an independent investigation into the matter with a view to unravelling the collaborators in the crisis at the market.
“To ensure peace, the Attorney General proposed a compromise: a 60 per cent share of the land to Ariori’s company and 40 per cent to the local government. Ariori accepted the deal and proceeded to survey and fence his portion.”
However, Sanni claimed that when Ariori’s workers arrived at the site, they were viciously attacked by traders, who destroyed building materials, including 10,000 blocks and cement. Ariori’s workers and policemen attached to him were injured.
The lawyer levelled more serious allegations, claiming that the CP’s actions were motivated by bias: “70 per cent of the traders in Owode Onirin are from Kwara State and they were supported by the Commissioner of Police, who is also from Kwara State.”
Ariori’s legal team detailed the alleged procedural infractions committed by the CP, saying,”The CP is instigating traders against the ownership of the land” and encouraging them to stage a protest at Alausa, demanding Ariori’s arraignment.
“The CP allegedly refused to release the official case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) when requested, and only released it after the public protest.
“Ariori was detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, for over three weeks and was about to be arraigned for murder. We insist that no shots were fired by his attached police details, but that the incident was fabricated to rope him into murder.
The legal team further alleged that the CP invited the protesting traders to write and repeatedly change their statements in his office, claiming that they had revised their testimonies more than three times.
However, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO ), SP Abimbola Adebisi, could not respond to our Correspondent’s call or WhatsApp message for the police side of the story.
