Even though calm appears to have returned, Fagba area in Ifako Ijaye Local Government Area of Lagos, which became the alternative war theatre during the mayhem that engulfed the state and a larger part of the country now bears a semblance of the peace, but the scars, physical and psychological, remain. How quickly can the people forget? Gboyega Alaka, who visited the ‘war zone’, reports.
It’s a bright Wednesday afternoon, and Fagba, Iju-Ishaga in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos looks quite back to life. The sun is high up in the sky, as if in pretence of the dark cloud that descended on the environment just days earlier. Vehicles – private cars, commercial mini-buses, tricycles, motorcycles, articulated vehicles are on the road, roaring thick black dust into the air – a thickness fuelled by dark soot leftover of the senseless burning of tyres, vehicles, houses and wait for it, humans.
The police, surprisingly, are also back. Immaculately dressed traffic officers are at both junctions of Iju Road and Jonathan Coker rail intersection, controlling the traffic. A number of gun-toting anti-riot policemen could be seen, looking fully geared and ready to forestall any kind of disturbance. Have they learnt any lesson? Only time can tell.
While the Lekki Toll Plaza indisputably remained the epicentre of the recent EndSARS agitation, where the agitators maintained their grip on Lagos, while spreading their tentacles across the metropolis and beyond, Fagba, a bustling commercial suburb of Lagos, surprisingly emerged the war theatre. The marks are there. Charred buildings, burnt shops, broken window panes and glasses, burnt vehicles, and a wiry remains of tyres, which residents say were used in burning corpses of murdered victims. Some say 16 people died, some say 20, while some simply said, ‘Plenty, I cannot count’. How did such happen? How did a peaceful protest for a common goal erupt into such a violent ethnic clash in a community where all tribes: Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and others, had previously cohabited peacefully?
Just a day before, Tuesday precisely, the governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had visited to assess the situation himself, calm and soothe frayed nerves, while pledging assistance to those whose businesses were razed down. How far will his visit go in helping them overcome the two-day horror? Questions, questions…
Not a thing to forget in a hurry
According to Kolawole Osho, who says he is a painter but also offer taxi services with his private car at the Jonathan Coker Taxi Unit close to the rail junction, what happened on Tuesday 20th October 2020 and the day after in Fagba is not a thing to be forgotten in a hurry. Is it the mindless killing of about 16 people- some of whom were innocent people in transit through the area, or the burning of vehicles and businesses, which value could well run into hundreds of millions of naira?
“I had taken a client to Allen Avenue in Ikeja that day but suddenly found it difficult getting back to base. The EndSARS agitation had assumed a high pitch and the protesting youths had blocked virtually all the major routes. However, what I immediately beheld as I entered Fagba, was the sight of protesters, made up mostly of Yoruba and youth of Southern Nigeria extraction, blocking some trailers from passing. The trailers were conveying livestock such as cows, rams, goats and chicken, tubers of yam and flowers. The owners and drivers, who were Hausa, pleaded and pleaded, explaining that the animals were tired from days of travelling from the North and could begin to die anytime soon; but the youths vehemently refused. Eventually, they went to call on their people and came to confront the protesters.
“The moment they came back, they just started smashing and breaking everything in sight. Some said the Yoruba had also looted their livestock, I don’t know how true that is. The whole thing became so violent that we all, about a hundred of us, went to hide in the gated building down there, as the Hausa people now started attacking every perceived Yoruba in sight. No one was prepared for the violence. Not seeing any Yoruba in sight to attack, they started breaking, looting and setting shops belonging to Yoruba and Southerners on fire. Later, men of the anti-riot policemen arrived and tried to enforce peace, but the Hausa were unrelenting. They were armed with all manner of weapons including bows and arrows, cutlasses, daggers, knives…. They even confronted the police. Much later, after they had been repelled, I pulled out my car from a compound where I had hidden it and bolted away from the vicinity.” Osho narrated.
Osho said he later learnt that the Hausa again came in the evening of that same Tuesday and started attacking and killing every perceived Yoruba in sight.
“It did not matter to them whether you knew anything about the problem, was just passing by or driving by. A man was driving by; we learnt he was returning from Ibadan with his wife and son; they waylaid his vehicle, slaughtered and beheaded the wife and son, while the man escaped with deep knife and machete injuries. A 19-year-old student was passing by, they grabbed him, cut off his head. It was at that point that the Yoruba regrouped and started attacking and killing the Hausa in retaliation.
“In all, I lost count, but corpses littered everywhere. The Hausa did not stop at just killing, they also proceeded to burning the corpses with tyres. The Yoruba followed suit, burning their own victims too. Make no mistake about it, it was pure horror,” Osho said, shaking his head in indignation.
But Secretary of the Jonathan Coker Taxi Unit, Olusegun Akinlosose, who sat by all along supplied the figure.
“About 16 people were killed. We saw when the health officers came to pick them up. Once they killed their victims, they set their corpses on fire.” Akinlosose said.
“The Hausa also poured petrol in plastic bottles, set them on fire and threw them in houses. They burnt houses you see all over are outcome of the onslaught. They burnt The Independent Hotel across the rail lines; they also threw fire in the late baale, Chief Savage’s house opposite. The current baale was not spared; an SUV was burnt down and window panes in his house were shattered. You’ll see for yourself when you get there. You can also see the window panes of the church across. On the other side, Adedoja Shopping complex was burnt down along with about 12 tricycles parked inside. Same for The Ruth’s Place event center opposite right there,” he said, pointing.
Asked if there were any Hausa property burnt, Akinlosose said, he did not know of any. He said the Hausa resorted to all the burning because it was probably their only way of getting back at the Yoruba.
“On Wednesday, the fight continued with more people being killed and property and businesses vandalised, looted and burnt.” He said.
It’s not true that we started the trouble – Yoruba youths
A group of Yoruba youth lazing opposite the burnt Independent Hotel however sniggered at the narrative that Yoruba started the trouble.
One of them, who would not give his name, said: “It’s not true that Yoruba started the trouble. What do you expect when the Hausa blocked the road, waylay motorists and collect money from them before allowing them passage? It was they who blocked a Yoruba man’s car from passing, and even went as far as smashing his windscreens. The guy had even accepted his fate but when he drove to the point where the EndSARS protesters, who were mainly Yoruba, were a few meters away, they asked who smashed his glasses and when he told them, they could not stomach it and went to confront them.”
When told that his narrative is different from that earlier obtained from other sources, the youth said rather dismissively: “I just told you what happened. Every other thing is rumour.”
Asked if many people indeed died, the youth said, “Yes. They killed our people, we also killed their people.”
The owner of Independent Hotel was however not available to speak with this reporter; neither was any of his staff.
The economic casualties
Along Jonathan Coker Road, where most of the shops were burnt to ashes, owners could be seen picking their pieces, literally. Repair works were underway, as many could be seen either reinstalling their container shops, painting or fixing the roof. Virtually all were bare, having been burnt to ashes.
Morufat Yusuf, with her neighbour Ngozi, were painting the carcass of her burnt container shop. Her husband, Yusuf, was also busy with other stuff.
“I sell building materials: paints, saws, iron sheets, and other accessories. We had opened shop that Tuesday, like every other day. The protest had been on for a few days and nobody had attacked anybody, just the blocking of roads. So nobody expected that it would turn violent that day. When it became too hot and the killing started, we locked our shops and took to our heels, but they still burnt down our shops. In all, everything burnt in my shop should run into around 12million naira,” Morufat narrated.
Morufat’s husband, Rasak Yusuf, gave a more descriptive picture, when he said, “They chased us down the road, and because they were more in numbers and armed with dangerous weapons, we retreated. But as we were retreating, they doused our shops and set them on fire. We watched from afar, as any attempts to move closer could jeopardise our lives.”
Morufat’s neighbour, Victoria Charles, an Igbo, said she was helping her to paint the shop, so she also could reciprocate when it was time to paint hers.
“You know the expenses of starting all over is much, so we have to assist each other in whatever way we can. Besides, she is my friend and I don’t see her as being different despite that she is Yoruba and I am Igbo. Besides, we suffered the same fate. The Hausa killed both Yoruba and Igbo.”
The mother of two explained that she deals in interior decoration materials, curtains, poles and co in the two shops next to Morufat’s. She, however, could not immediately come up with an estimation of how much she lost in naira. Her answer, “It is much. As you can see, I lost two shops, all filled with supplies.”
A mild drama however ensued when this reporter asked if the two friends had insurance cover for their businesses. It was Morufat who first answered in the affirmative, while Victoria answered in the negative. But Morufat’s husband responded sharply, “Do not mind her o. Do you know what insurance is?”
At this point, this reporter explained briefly what insurance is and the benefits that could have accrued to them.
As the reporter made to exit, Victoria asked, “Please, is it that we are expecting something from the governor? Please o, I learnt he has promised to assist us, tell him we are expecting him o.”
Next to Victoria’s burnt shop was Funmilayo Kushimo’s. She said she had only recently resigned from her teaching job in a private school to face her business.
“I sell fashion stuff and accessories like cosmetics, shoes, bags, lace, men and female outfits. In all, I lost over two million naira worth of goods. My next door neighbour also lost everything. He occupied the long space you are seeing that has now been reduced to ashes (pointing at the empty space). As I speak with you, he is in a hospital undergoing treatment. He had been ill before and had to undergo surgery for an eye injury, so when he came running down on hearing the mayhem that was going on, he just collapsed.”
Trying to explain what really transpired, Kushimo, who said she spoke to the governor when he visited the day before, refuted the allegation that the Yoruba provoked the violence by looting Hausa livestock from their lorries. She said, “No. What actually happened was that the protesters blocked the road by the Iju Road traffic light. The Hausa group also blocked the road not too far by the rail line with their bikes. One Yoruba guy riding a Camry made to drive past the Hausa blockade, but they refused him passage. The Yoruba guys even interceded but they said no. Eventually the guy was able to pass; some say they vandalised his car. I couldn’t confirm that. Not long after, some Hausa-owned trailers now approached the blockade by the Yoruba EndSARS agitators, so they also insisted that they would not allow them passage. The Hausa begged and even offered money, but the protesters refused and insisted that they would not allow them. Basically a tit for tat. Soon, tempers rose and they started fighting, throwing stones. The Yoruba boys from Ishaga regrouped and started fighting back with stones. The Hausa called on their people from Agege and they came with bows and arrows, knives, daggers, cutlass and al hell was let loose.”
About the number of the dead, Kushimo said she lost count. “But the one I saw, Hausa killed three Yoruba, Yoruba retaliated, killing three Hausa. There was one corpse here, one there, and another there,” she said, pointing at spots just outside her shop.
On his interaction with the governor, Kushimo said, “The governor has told us to write our names with the baale and that he will try and compensate us with something to start all over. He said it may not be 100 percent and pleaded with us to be honest in our responses. He also said the government would embark on weeding the area of hoodlums and miscreants to forestall any such occurrence in the future.”
Not much from the Hausa
Not much could however be obtained from the few Hausa who were see operating their commercial motorcycle business in the vicinity. Efforts to speak to a few of them, against the advice of the Yoruba respondents, fell flat.
Aside the fact that many indeed could not speak English, even those who clearly understood the questions put to them in pidgin English feigned lack of comprehension. One, who managed to respond, simply said, ‘Oga, I beg go, I no want wahala’, while another said, “Uga, I no know o, I beg go.’
Clearly, they, like the Yoruba, are still smarting from the pain. Besides, everybody appeared to be wary of the fact that merely talking about it could spark another round of violence.
Baale, not available
A visit to Baale Kamorudeen Balogun’s house yielded no result, as he was said to have gone out. One of his chiefs who lives a few houses away claimed he had been ill and only returned home a day after the fracas.
An elderly woman in the neighbourhood, however, volunteered that the police had been there earlier that day with some reporters. She also confirmed that the governor visited Tuesday and spoke with the three baales in the area.
“The governor appealed for calm and promised to assuage the loss of the victims,” she said.
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