It was indeed a black and bloody Tuesday when some uniformed men of the Nigerian military unofficially invaded the popular Ladipo market in the Mushin local government area of Lagos state leaving scores injured and two dead.
In an amateur video seen by 9News Nigeria, the military men who paraded the market with guns and a military van were shooting sporadically in the open crowded market packed with mostly Igbo traders.
The traders were seen shouting and scampering for safety while the military men continued firing gunshots indiscriminately. One man was seen lying in the pool of his own blood. Some of the traders were seen carrying one of the men shot by the soldiers and calling out for a motorcycle taxi probably in the bid to rush the wounded man to the hospital
It was gathered that one of the traders shot dead known as “Scatter” was the PRO of the Ladipo traders association.
According to a voice heard from the video, the soldiers invaded the market in the claim that they bought a vehicle engine that was bad some months ago.
In a private investigation of the incident, 9News Nigeria later gathered that a man who supposedly was a member of the Nigerian Airforce had made a purchase of a car engine from a Ladipo trader and it turned out that the engine was not functional. The supposed military man returned the engine and demanded for a refund but was denied the refund over some arguments. In the process of pressing for his case fight broke out between him and the trader which made the military man to leave in anger. The military man then on Tuesday 13th July 2021 came back with some other armed military men on a Hilux Van with OP MESSA inscription on it.
