Ughelli Market Crisis: 3 feared dead as Ekiugbo /Otor Iwhreko youth clash over N5, 000 annual levies

No fewer than three persons have been reportedly shot dead in a renewed tussle of who collects levy at Ughelli Main Market between Otor-Iwhreko and Ekiugbo communities in Ughelli North local government area of Delta State.

Advocate.ng gathered that the victims, 2 males were allegedly shot on Thursday afternoon and their corpses deposited at the entrance to one of the communities while the female was allegedly shot at the front of her shop and she was rushed to the hospital where she later died.

Advocate.ng further gathered from a reliable source who spoke to us but pleaded for anonymity, that trouble started on Thursday when some youths from Otor-Iwhreko allegedly went to collect yearly levy from the wife of the former President-General of Ekiugbo who allegedly refused to pay but rather reported to her husband.

“The woman refused to pay, she told them that she a wife of a former President-General and as such she is excluded from the yearly N5,000:00, but youths will not yield to their demand, they, therefore, asked her to pack her wears if she will not pay, a situation that made her, call her husband.

The source added; “the next thing we saw was some vigilante men who came down from their vehicles shooting sporadically and one woman who sells plastics at the market was shot and with the information at our disposal, she has died from the bullets.

Another source alleged that traders trading along the market road were mandated to pay an annual levy of N5, 000 by one of the communities and this was what generate the killing on Thursday.

“Trouble started when one of the communities was trying to forcefully extort the said amount of money, the other came with their boys and shot two men and a woman who sells plastics dead.

All efforts made to speak with the Presidents General of both communities were not successful; however, when Advocate.ng visited the communities, the corpses of the two men were seen left at the market road junction.

The Delta State Acting Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Edafe Bright could not confirm the incident as calls to his mobile phone were not answered nor returned as at the time of this report.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer attached to the Ughelli Area Command who confirmed the incident said, “The police are on top of the matter as the investigation is ongoing and as a measure to check the crisis we have drafted our men to market to maintain peace”.