Fact-Check: Was Dei Dei Clash in Abuja a fight Between Hausa-Fulani and the Igbos?

Fact-Check: Was Dei Dei Clash in Abuja a fight Between Hausa-Fulani and the Igbos?

Claim: There are wide speculations in Socoal Media that the outbreak of crisis at Dei Dei Timber Market in Abuja was between Hausa-Fulani and Igbos which allegedly led to the destruction of Igbo goods worth billions of Naira.

Full Text:

A crisis erupted at the popular Abuja Building Material Market, Dei Dei in the Federal Capital Terrotory.

Images and Videos from the market available on social media show many people running for safety while a large ball of smoke billows at the largest market of building materials in Abuja.

Multiple sources said the crisis started after a woman fell from a commercial motorbike and was crushed by a trailer. 

This, they said led to the burning of the motorbike and thereafter degenerated into a crisis where members of the commercial bike riders were attacking people and destroying shops. 

Some eyewitness accounts said there were gunshots. Shop owners were forced to close their shops to avoid being attacked. 

However social media users have continued to share various images and videos of the crisis claiming that it was a clash between Hausa-Fulanis and Igbos. Some even claimed it was between Christians and Muslims.

In one of the clips shared on WhatsApp which was sighted by PRNigeria, the cameraman while recording images of the scene kept stating incitefully, “It’s happening live in Dei Dei Timber oo, make wuna see fire, Hausa people don finish Igbo for here…make una see how Igbo goods dey destroy, we need Biafra, we need Biafra.” 

In other footage, it was Hausa occupants screaming “Subhanallah!” And turning away as assailants approach them.” 

Othe footages and posts on social media claimed it was a fight between christians and Muslims.

Verification: 

Upon seeing the claims, PRNigeria reached out to some residents and traders in the area and they all confirmed that the clash is between Okada Riders and traders. 

This corroborates HumAngle’s story which reported that multiple sources said the Dei-Dei clashes started after a trailer allegedly crushed a woman to death after she fell from a commercial motorbike.

Similarly, Tribune and other legacy media reported that following altercations between the traders and the motorcycle riders after a woman was killed by a trailer driver.

One of the affected traders, Mr Kalu Nze who witnessed the accident, told journalists that the crisis started after a motorcycle carrying a woman ran into a trailer and the trailer crushed the woman to death, that after killing the woman, the driver of the trailer refused to stop and he drove off but was later caught at Deidei junction.

He said that the motorcycle riders in the area later mobilized themselves to recover the motorcycle that was involved in the accident from the scene of the accident, but some people around who witnessed what happened refused to give them the motorcycle and set it ablaze.

“That was the beginning of the crisis, the motorcycle riders who were visibly angry went back and mobilized themselves from every direction they could penetrate and decided to set the timber shades on fire.

Speaking to PRNigeria on the development, a Journalist who said he was on his way to a media event at Jabi when he received a WhatsApp message that Fulani’s are attacking and killing people at the Kubwa – Dei Dei axis.

“I immediately shouted at the driver to turn back but he ignored me, when we got there, I felt ashamed as Journalist, because nothing of the sort was happening and i didn’t verify before reacting,” he narrated. 

The official position of the Federal Capital Territory Administration corroborates PRNigeria’s findings. 

Speaking while ordering the indefinite closure of Dei-Dei International Market, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mohammad Bello on Thursday alluded that it was a clash between commercial motorcyclists and traders.

“I am appealing to other communities within the FCT that there is no tribal or religious misunderstanding because all the leadership of various communities have lived here in peace for many years. This is simply the matter of criminals and hoodlums taking laws into their hands,” he said. 

Verdict/Conclusion: The Dei-Dei International Market clash was a clash between commercial motorcyclists and traders after a woman fell from a motorbike and was crushed by a trailer. The claim that it was a Hausa-Fulani vs an Igbo clash or a fight between Muslims and Muslims is therefore False and MISLEADING.