The bustling Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market, once known as a hub for mechanics, artisans and automobile dealers, is now a graveyard of broken windshields, shattered headlights and grieving families. What began as a tussle over land has snowballed into a deadly clash and bloodshed, leaving traders and residents scampering for safety. ZAINAB OLUFEMI traces how a decade-long ownership land battle, the menace of land grabbers, and police interference haveleft a trail of wanton destruction in the market.
Every day, the Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market attracts thousands of traders and buyers from across Lagos and beyond.
Established in 1979 during the administration of late Governor Lateef Jakande, the market has grown into a key economic hub. But behind the daily bustle lies a festering land dispute that has now exploded into violence.
On the night of Tuesday, August 27, suspected thugs allegedly working for a now-declared wanted notorious land grabber, Abiodun Ariori, had stormed the market, wielding guns, cutlasses and bottles.
Vehicles were vandalised, shops looted, and traders threatened. By dawn the following day, what should have been a routine business day became a killing field.
By the time the smoke cleared, eyewitnesses who spoke with The Nation counted at least seven to fifteen corpses, with scores of other persons battling for their lives in hospitals. Nearly 100 vehicles, including cars, SUVs, trucks and towing vans, were left in ruins.
A market under siege
When The Nation visited the market during the week, eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the attackers were allegedly loyal to one Abiodun “Akeem” Ariori, a notorious land grabber who has been laying claim to sections of the market.
One of the eyewitnesses, Kayode, said: “When they came on Tuesday night, they destroyed vehicles and warned us that we would regret staying here. But the shock came the next morning. Policemen arrived, and instead of protecting us, they started shooting. People dropped dead on the spot.”
Traders alleged that some of the gunfire also came from thugs positioned in a nearby hotel, while uniformed policemen fired directly into the market.
Families in grief
For the Adeoye family, the violence brought tragedy. Their son, Akeem Aderemi, was shot in the stomach and leg while crossing the road.
“I was at Mile 12 when they called me to come to the General Hospital,” his father, Mr. Adeoye, recounted in tears.
“He was not in any gang. He was a nice boy. We spent over N500,000 moving him from hospital to hospital until he died. He was the breadwinner.”
Trader Olamilekan Hassan lost his apprentice, Muftau Damilare, to a stray bullet.
“He had been with me for six years. That day, he was returning from a site with his tools when they shot him in the face. He was married with children. Now everything has scattered,” he lamented.
Survivors count losses
Dozens of victims are still struggling to recover from the tragic incident.
“I was chased with cutlasses and ran to the police station, but they demanded money before helping me,” trader Adenuga Adelaja said, displaying deep machete wounds.
“At the hospital too, they asked for a police report before treatment. I don’t know if I will survive this.”
Another survivor, Yusuf Hassan, alleged that policemen shot at him.
“As I ran, a bullet pierced my leg. Now I vomit blood and can’t sleep.
“My family has spent so much already. The policemen were the ones who shot at us. They want to take over our market,” he claimed from his hospital bed.
We just want peace — towing vehicle association
Chairman of the National Towing Vehicle Owners Association, Mufutau Aderemi, said the attack left his members in shock.
“On Tuesday, we had closed by 6pm. By 6:30/7pm, thugs stormed the market. Some people escaped with their cars, but many who ran for their lives returned to find their vehicles destroyed.
“Three of my personal vehicles were damaged,” he said.
He recounted that almost 15 towing vehicles were vandalised, while five offices and five mosques were demolished.
“Since 1980 when (former) Jakande resettled us here, we’ve never had this kind of crisis until Ariori started this land fight. If the government wants to move us, they should provide another site. We are powerless. We just want to sell in peace,” he appealed.
Land, power, blood
At the heart of the conflict is a decade-long tussle between traders, the Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), and the Oluwo family, which has had several court judgments awarding portions of the land since the 1990s.
Market leaders insist they have consistently paid revenue to the government and see the land as belonging to the state. They accuse Ariori of fronting for the Oluwo family and using violence to enforce claims.
“Owode-Onirin is divided into three: Iron Metal, Spare Parts, and Agbajowo Scrap. Our section has no issue with land grabbers. Unfortunately, they encroached on our land, and that dragged us into the matter,” market chairman, Abiodun Ahmed, explained.
Dispute casualty figures
While traders insist that as many as 15 lives were lost, authorities at Ikorodu General Hospital refused to speak to our correspondent, owing to the sensitivity of the incident.
However, a source at the hospital confirmed receiving four corpses and treating several others.
Another source at the hospital disclosed that some victims were transferred to private clinics, fuelling suspicions that the real toll could be higher.
Police, council react
Chairman of Agboyi-Ketu LCDA, Adetola Abubakar, denied any role in the violence, insisting the crisis was strictly between the Oluwo family and the traders.
She pointed to a 1998 court judgment favouring the family and said the council had attempted mediation through resettlement plans.
The chairman explained that the entire Owode land covered 26.663 hectares, with a Certificate of Occupancy issued to the local government in 2024.
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However, she explained that the Oluwo family had laid claim to 4.408 hectares as far back as 1994 and secured judgment in their favour in 1998.
Attempts to enforce that judgment were unsuccessful until March 2024, when the Lagos State Building Control Agency demolished structures on the contested portion, which triggered unrest.
Lagos Police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed that Ariori had been declared wanted in connection with the killings. He added that three policemen involved in the shootings were arrested and transferred to Abuja.
The State Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, personally led a combined team of operatives drawn from the Operations Department, Police Mobile Force, Rapid Response Squad, Tactical units and the State CID to the troubled axis on Wednesday.
The intervention brought an end to the violence, cleared barricades on major roads, and reopened the market area to commercial activities.
According to investigators, preliminary findings linked Ariori to the mayhem, but efforts to arrest him have so far proved abortive, as he is believed to have gone into hiding.
The Command, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, urged members of the public with useful information on Ariori’s whereabouts to report to the nearest police station or call designated emergency numbers.
Hundeyin also disclosed that four policemen allegedly brought in from outside Lagos by the wanted suspect were arrested for engaging in illegal duty.
Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the Inspector-General of Police had ordered a full probe to ensure justice.
A bloody pattern
The Owode-Onirin killings follow a disturbing trend in Lagos, where land disputes frequently degenerate into violence involving omo-onile (land grabbers), traders, and sometimes security agents.
A 2016 Lagos State anti-land grabbing law prescribes up to 21 years imprisonment for offenders, but enforcement remains weak.
For grieving families, such legal provisions mean little. Their loved ones, artisans, apprentices, and students, were ordinary people caught in a deadly crossfire of land politics and police gunfire.
As Owode-Onirin market struggles to pick up the pieces, the scars of the bloodshed remain visible: vandalised vehicles, tense atmosphere, grieving families, and a community unsure of what tomorrow holds.