Oluwatoyin Mathnuel
Several traders from Lagos- Owode Onirin Market on Tuesday staged a peaceful mass protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly over the alleged killings of seven harmless market traders on August 27, 2025.
The traders, who came in several buses in large number to register their dissatisfaction with the killings, also submitted a petition addressed to the Speaker of the House dated October 7, 2025, titled; “When Justice Sleeps, Innocent Blood Cries: Petition To The Lagos State House Of Assembly On The Massacre Of Traders At Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market, Lagos State.”
The petition was written on behalf of the traders by the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR), and signed by its President, Comrade Alex Omotehinse.
The group said; “we write with profound grief, outrage, and an unyielding demand for justice over the massacre of six innocent traders at the Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, orchestrated by a notorious land grabber Mr. Abiodun Hakeem Ariori in connivance with four policemen brought from Nasarawa State Police Command.”
The petition, they said, is a painful reminder that CHSR had earlier submitted a formal petition to this Honourable House in Thursday March 27, 2025, which they said was acknowledged and received by Hon. Shabi, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 2.
They stated that this was in reference to that petition, “which sought the Assembly’s urgent intervention in the escalating land dispute to prevent bloodshed.”
“Unfortunately, our warnings were ignored. Today, the very crisis we cautioned against has culminated in blood, tears, and death.
“The Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market, a lawful business hub, has been the target of violent encroachment by Akeem Abiodun Ariori, the land grabber who, with impunity, has unleashed thugs and influenced police officers to intimidate and dislodge legitimate traders.
“Despite pending court actions and petitions, in early 2025, over 500 shops were demolished in defiance of subsisting court processes, a flagrant disregard for the rule of law.
“On August 26, 2025, Ariori, through a fictitious petition, manipulated authorities of Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, alleging threats from the traders.
“The police invited both parties for a peace meeting, which the Owode-Onirin Marketers Association executives dutifully attended.
“The meeting was amicable. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 2 resolved that both parties should maintain peace pending boundary verification by surveyors and legal representatives,” they said.
It was added in the petition that even while the meeting was ongoing, Ariori had allegedly already mobilised armed thugs to the market, initiating chaos, destruction of properties, and sporadic attacks against innocent shop owners.
“The following morning, Wednesday, August 27, 2025 the market witnessed an unprecedented bloodbath when four Policemen from Nasarawa State as acclaimed by the Lagos State Police Command, allegedly hired and brought to Lagos by the land grabber, stormed the market with guns, firing indiscriminately at traders. By the end of that black Wednesday, six traders lay dead, many others were grievously injured, and about 50 vehicles and countless goods were destroyed.
“The deceased victims are Mr. Seyi Akinboye, Mr. Adeoye Taiwo, Mr. Dare Mufutau, Mr. Aderemi Adeoye Hakeem, Mr. Abraham Idowu Temilola and Mr. Wale Adebayo
“These men were not criminals. They were law-abiding Nigerians seeking daily sustenance through legitimate trade, their only “offence” was defending their shops and livelihoods,” the petition read.
It was said further that “the conduct of the Nigeria Police Force in this matter has been shameful, compromised, and criminally irresponsible, we were informed by the Nigeria police that the four officers involved were illegally operating outside their jurisdiction, having no formal assignment in Lagos.
“After the killings, instead of being tried in Lagos, the officers were secretly transferred to Abuja, subjected to a questionable “orderly room trial,” and released on the false pretext of self-defence.”
It was added that the excuse of “self-defence” against unarmed traders is barbaric and insulting to the dead.
“Who authorised officers from Nasarawa State to operate in Lagos? Who sanctioned their actions? These questions remain unanswered because the police hierarchy is complicit in this travesty.
“The land grabber, Abiodun (Hakeem) Ariori, was equally released after some days in detention, following a bail application that the police deliberately failed to challenge.
“Equally disturbing is the position of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN).
“In his public remarks, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN) misleadingly stated that the Owode-Onirin crisis was “not related to land grabbing but rather a different matter entirely.” Such a statement is reckless, untruthful, and an insult to the memories of the slain traders,” they said.
The marketers alleged that the “Attorney General’s comments amount to distortion of facts, deliberate obfuscation of justice, and an attempt to shield powerful interests.”
They stressed that from the beginning, CHSR had expressed serious doubt about the Ministry’s impartiality due to the Attorney General’s perceived bias and closeness to influential figures backing the land grabber.
“Therefore, CHSR calls for the immediate suspension and investigation of Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN) for dereliction of duty, abuse of office, and deliberate obstruction of justice, the Honourable House must summon him to explain why he sought to whitewash a massacre and redefine criminal killings as mere misunderstanding.
“CHSR condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric and unheard-of demand that families of the slain traders must pay for postmortem examinations before reclaiming their loved ones’ bodies.
“This is daylight robbery and heartless extortion of poor, grieving families who have lost their breadwinners, where do the aged parents, widows, and infants of the victims find money to pay for autopsies ordered by the same state that failed to protect their loved ones?
“This cruelty is nothing but a deliberate ploy to intimidate and discourage the victims’ families from seeking justice, is justice now a privilege reserved for the rich and the politically connected?
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Bar Association, and the entire human rights community to rise to the occasion and speak out for the Owode-Onirin Six, who can no longer speak for themselves,” they said.
CHSR subsequently demanded that the Lagos State House of Assembly should constitute an independent investigative panel to probe the Wednesday August 27 Owode-Onirin killings, with the power to summon police officers, the land grabber, and Ministry of Justice officials.
They also urged the Assembly to summon the Attorney General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), for questioning over his alleged public misrepresentation of facts and his office’s failure to defend the victims’ rights.
“We urge the Lagos State Government to provide compensation and relief for families of the deceased and survivors of the massacre.
“They should petition the Inspector-General of Police to re-arrest the released officers and the land grabber for prosecution in Lagos State, where the offence occurred.
“The assembly should also legislate Law against land grabbing and police complicity, ensuring stiffer penalties for individuals and state actors who enable such crimes,” they said.
The group noted in the petition that “Owode-Onirin massacre represents a national shame and a moral failure of governance in Lagos State, it is a tragedy that could have been avoided had this Honourable House acted upon CHSR’s earlier petitions.
“Today, we mourn not only the lives lost but also the collapse of public trust in state institutions meant to protect the people.
“We urge this House to rise beyond politics and act in defence of truth, justice, and humanity. The blood of these six traders must not be washed away by bureaucratic silence. Justice delayed can be misinterpreted as justice denied.”
