IFE CRISIS NOT AN ETHNIC CRISIS
In the early hours of Wednesday, reports of crisis between Hausa and Yoruba in Ile Ife- Osun state flooded the social media, in which 5 people were reportedly killed.
Different newspapers reported different stories about the cause of the crisis, but none of the stories were close to the truth since they all claimed it was an ethnic crisis between Hausa and Yoruba when the facts as contained in their report says otherwise.
Here are the facts as reported by different newspapers:
• TheCable reported that trouble started on Tuesday after a vehicle driven by a Yoruba man hit the wife of a Hausa trader. Some youths were said to have attacked the driver with machete and this angered members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) who chose to fight back to defend one of their own. The security agents deployed in the town were said to have foiled an attempt by the NURTW members to gain access into Sabo community, where the majority of those who attacked the driver came from.
• In its own report, Business Day newspaper reported that sources in Ile-Ife told its correspondent that crisis erupted when a Hausa man was caught in bed with the wife of an indigene of the town.
• Another national newspaper, Punch in its report claimed that the fight was caused by a misunderstanding between a Yoruba man and an Hausa man at Sabo area of Ife. The Yoruba man was said to have been beaten by some Hausa traders and he in return came back to the market with his group to confront those who beat him.

For the purpose of clarity, ethnic conflict is not a conflict between two individuals of different ethnicity or groups over business or other natural conflict in human interactions. Ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. But the crisis in Ile Ife has nothing to do with ethnicity. It is merely a kind of conflict that often arises from natural human interaction.
However, it is saddening that media organizations in the country are now becoming notorious for deliberately twisting reports to create tension and escalate ethnic divide. They report distorted news in other to portray certain ethnicity in negative light and widen the gap between people of different ethnicity.
While social bloggers that are not tutored to report professionally or guided by any known rules may be excused for their irresponsible reporting, established newspapers that prided themselves as professionals and guided with certain code of conduct cannot claim ignorance. Newspaper editors must therefore be aware of the destructive tendencies of this kind of reportage.


From the three (3) contradictory reports above, one fact was established. The crisis has nothing to do with ethnicity per se, it was more of a badly managed crisis between two people, which subsequently transformed to crisis between two groups.

For the same media that reported the above facts to then describe the conflict as an ethnic crisis between Yoruba and Hausa beat our imagination.

Similarly, none of the newspapers verified the killing of anyone, even though their headline all creamed 5 killed in Ile- Ife. We must then ask, what do these newspapers gain from unnecessarily heating up the polity with distorted report of ethnic crisis?

In the course of our investigation, we reached out to our friends around the area for verification and they did confirm the incident, but none of those we spoke can confirm if anyone was killed. They however noted that some people were injured and properties destroyed.

We therefore appeal to all media organizations in Nigeria to ensure they report incidents as they truly are, not to distort report to portray imaginary ethnic conflict where none existed. Many people have died in reprisal attacks fueled by distorted information.

We also appeal to social media commentators to desist from trying to portray each other’s ethnicity in negative light through spreading and promoting false and distorted information.

AMB. Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
President, Foundation for Peace Professionals
Discus4now@gmail.com

I knew it, after killing people in their town you still have the guts to come and say rubbish instead of apologizing for the unruly behavior of your brothers

Dey laugh

See mega media houses contradicting themselves . . ..

Standing5:
See mega media houses contradicting themselves . . ..

^^
Yoruba muslim...smh

thewarrior72:

^^
Yoruba muslim...smh

Is this the new strategy from pained losers to divide their worst nightmares? to tag some posters Yoruba Muslim? You must be irredeemably confused to think that's a good strategy.

thewarrior72:

^^
Aren't u a yoruba muslim? Answer me with a straight face and shame the devil.

?

devilson:
u wish,are u not the same person asking of Yoruba's had the most casualty igbo's will remain frustrated

Afonja.

Which kind trash is this.

Source

devilson:
u wish,are u not the same person asking of Yoruba's had the most casualty igbo's will remain frustrated

Something terrible is wrong with that dude. Just look how he's jumping from thread to thread jerking off over this crisis. It just doesn't make sense.

MXrep:
I knew it, after killing people in their town you still have the guts to come and say rubbish instead of apologizing for the unruly behavior of your brothers

Nobody even have an idea of who kill who, yet you in far away state already decided. What a person

Standing5:
See mega media houses contradicting themselves . . ..

E tire me ooo

thewarrior72:

^^
Aren't u a yoruba muslim? Answer me with a straight face and shame the devil.

What does that have to do with the subject of discuss?

mrrights:


What does that have to do with the subject of discuss?

^^
Off course it has.

mrrights:


What does that have to do with the subject of discuss?

^^
Off course it has something to do with the subject matter. U don't need to investigate or ponder when u see a comment from a yoruba muslim.

thwarrior72:

^^
Off course it has something to do with the subject matter. U don't need to investigate or ponder when u see a comment from a yoruba muslim.

Keep it up until your brain is back to normal.

its really worrisome