2 die as cops, traders clash
27/11/2006 13:14  - (SA)  

Abuja - At least two men were killed by stray bullets in Owode, Ogun State, south-west Nigeria, on Monday as police and butchers clashed.

The two butchers killed were part of a crowd of traders that mocked two policemen as they were stripped naked in a market place.

Four policemen and seven others were also injured in the clashes between police and traders.

The trouble started when police were trying to arrest two women for causing a public nuisance at the market. The women resisted arrest and stripped the police naked in public view.

Police reinforcements arrived at the scene soon afterwards and proceeded to arrest people.

The multiple arrests led to a face-off between the butchers, traders and the police.

A butcher was shot when a policeman's gun went off accidentally and this caused his colleagues to descend on the policemen.

Gunshots were then fired into the crowd, killing two butchers.

The crowd, angry that the two men had been killed by police bullets, attacked the nearby police station, burnt 28 vehicles parked there and released detainees from police cell.

Divisional Police Officer at the station, Oyeyemi Adejare, Chief Suprintendent of Police, confirmed that 11 of his officers had been injured and that they were receiving treatment at a private hospital.

Secretary of the Police Community Relations Committee in the town, Surajudeen Oladele, condemned the police action and said riot policemen had vandalised the house of his 82-year-old father.