The agents had asked him and his friends, who were returning from excavating rusted irons that were inside their wheelbarrow, to pay N100. According to the market women who were eyewitnesses, the boys refused to pay the N100 rate paid by other hawkers, saying they were not hawking any wares but merely passing through the market. The women said the rate agents would not hear any of such excuses from the boys and attempted to force them to part with the paltry amount.
The angry Hausa boys later evacuated the body of their kinsman to their settlement for burial yesterday, said another trader, Cyril Umoh. As of Thursday, the uproar persisted as large numbers of the deceased kinsmen, armed with weapons, invaded the Marian market, looking for any of the rate collectors. Sensing chaos and reprisals, several market women and bus drivers plying the route fled and abandoned the market.