“I’m Not Dead” – Man Whose Rumored Death Triggered Ile-Ife Hausa-Yoruba Fight (Photos)

I am not dead! Man whose death reportedly triggered Hausa-Yoruba clash in Ife declares (exclusive photos, video)

One of the alleged reasons the Hausa-Yoruba clash in Ile-Ife, Osun state, degenerated into a big issue was the reported killing of a vulcaniser in the community by some Hausa men.

The man identified as Mukaila, works just beside the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) park close to the filling station in the community, and was said to have been killed before the crisis escalated.

More than 15 houses and shops were razed during the disagreement between the Hausas and their Yoruba counterparts on Wednesday, March 8, and most of the people affected are yet to recover from the incident.

During NAIJ.com’s visit to the community on Saturday, March 18, some aggrieved Hausa residents practically dragged our correspondent to the vulcaniser’s spot beside the road and were almost conducting the interview on his behalf.

With a crowd already gathering around NAIJ.com crew on ground, we had to bow to pressure and ask the man if the allegations were true.

When approached and questioned,nMukaila told NAIJ.com that there was never a time he was at risk of being lynched by the Hausas.

As a matter of fact, he said he had fled his place of work since the same day the crisis escalated and only returned on Friday, March 17.

” But I was hearing reports from different quarters that I was dead and that the Hausas killed me during the crisis. “I thank God that I am alive. I was not even attacked by anybody during the crisis. I only left because I work close to the place where the incident was really tough,” he told our correspondent in Yoruba.

Our findings also revealed that shops belonging to Hausas were the ones which were destroyed during the crisis while those of the Yorubas were not tampered with. NAIJ.com will publish a comprehensive report on why this was so and the exact number of people who died during the fracas in a more comprehensive report

Naij