A violent clash between Hausa traders and some Igbo youths left many wounded in Asaba, Delta State on Thursday.
Over 200 northerners, most of them soaked with blood, have taken refuge at the B Division of the Delta State Police Command, Asaba, as a result of the violence.
Though, there were various versions of the cause of the violence, our correspondent learnt that some Igbo were provoked by the burial of the easterners who lost their lives in the North in Onitsha, about 15 minutes from Asaba.
The deceased were suspected to have been killed by Boko Haram.
The Igbo youths were said to have been angered by the thinking that while they were still mourning and burying their dead, the northerners in the area were going about their trading.
Some of the injured were receiving treatment at the Police Clinic and state hospital, Okwe, close to the division at the time of filing this report.
The popular Abraka Market operated by the northerners was deserted as hoodlums hijacked the situation to burgle shops in the market.
More than 10 truckloads of riot policemen were stationed at the Onitsha Bridge Head to quell the violence which took residents of the state capital by surprise.
A victim, who identified himself as Ibrahim, who had several machete cuts, said he was able to escape from Onitsha but was stopped by some hoodlums in Asaba who injured him and escaped with his motorcycle and mobile phones.
Another unconscious victim, a yam seller who had his face bloodied, recounted how he was hit on the head by his assailants while he was trying to escape.
“If not for the sake of the policemen who came to my rescue they would have killed me by now. We were caught unawares and there was no way we could have fought back as they far outnumbered us,” he said.
The Divisional Police Officer, Usman Yusuf, said the violence emanated from Onitsha, adding that the division was only trying to save the lives and property of the fleeing northerners.
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