Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Ondo State counterpart, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Sunday, paid a visit to Shasha community in Ibadan, where traders at the popular market in the area had clashed on Thursday and Friday.
The governors, while speaking with residents of the area, called for calm and appealed for harmonious peaceful coexistence between the Hausa and the Yoruba in the community.
The two governors, who also visited the palace of the traditional ruler of Shasha, urged residents of the community and the state in general to stop taking laws into their hands.
They implored the warring factions in the market to eschew violence and allow peace to reign.
Makinde in particular, after assessing the level of destruction at the market, promised to give palliatives to those whose goods and property were affected by the mayhem.
He further stated that he was reluctant to declare curfew and close the market, “because I felt the economic wellbeing of everyone here is important and because this is where you get what you use to feed yourselves and your families.
“But I had to the decision to curb the crisis from escalating. However, I will engage your leaders this evening (Sunday).
“One thing is, if you allow those who don’t have anything to lose here to blow this matter out of proportion, no one will be able to say where the crisis will end.
“But please, I beg of you, let us stop fighting ourselves. I can assure you that we will deal with the situation.
“We must continue to maintain the peace here. Those who are hoodlums here will be dealt with but those who are law-abiding will be compensated for what they have lost.” He said.
On his own part, Akeredolu, who said that he was in Oyo State on behalf of the South-West governors, appealed to aggrieved parties to stop fighting and allow peace to reign.
“Concerning the issue on ground, we have come to beg you. We have been living together for a very long time and this is not the time to start fighting ourselves.
“We have security agencies that you can call their attention to any issue that could cause crisis,” he said.
Akeredolu urged all residents of the state to cooperate with Makinde and avoid taking laws into their hands.