LAGOS is famously and fondly referred to as a city of wisdom. It was generally believed by many among the older generation that any resident of Lagos who is not wise can never be wise, no matter where such person lives in the world. For all Nigerians of the early post-independence generation, it was the place to be. And indeed, life was sweet, with crime very rare in most parts of the city.
But, the times have changed. Those beautiful old stories have given way to grisly and unimaginable crimes that have taken over some Lagos suburbs, as security operatives and local vigilance groups make frantic efforts to protect lives and property.
With the mainland of the state threatening to burst with a daily influx of dwellers, Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, was seen as an alternative where the people can find refuge. And indeed, so it seemed, until recently when Ikorodu, with serves as a transit point between Lagos and Ogun State, took a dangerous descent into a nest of criminal gangs.
Not long ago, Ikorodu grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons when fiendish kidnappers, blood-thirsty cultists, ruthless land grabbers, serial rapists and marauding vandals descended on the once peaceful town and sent peace on a flight, making life nightmarish for residents.
In March last year, the quiet atmosphere at the Babington Macauley Junior Seminary School in Ikorodu, was violated by armed men who stormed the premises of the missionary school and abducted three female students-Timilehin Olusa; Deborah Akinayo. The schoolgirls were to spend six days in captivity before their rescue at Imota, in the outskirts of Ikorodu.
Pipeline vandals on the loose
Late last year, suspected pipeline vandals terrorised residents of Imushin, Elepete, Oke Muti, Bolorunduro, Igbo Olomu and Ajegunle area of Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area, killing no fewer than 20 people. The attack came barely one week after the vandals killed about 15 people. According to sources, the audacious attack by the vandals was in retaliation for two of their members allegedly killed by the operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) during a raid on one of their hideouts, a hotel.
Earlier, in September 16, 2015, no fewer than seven operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) were killed during an encounter with pipeline vandals in the Ishawo area of Ikorodu. The ugly incident, which occurred at about 8pm on the fateful day, was the second time in two weeks that vandals would unleash terror on security operatives in the area. It will be recalled that four policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and Owutu Police Division on August 30, 2015, were also attacked by the suspected vandals.
Cultism: Threat to peace
Time was when stories of secret cult groups were restricted to students and the four walls of tertiary institutions in the country. These days, however, members of self-acclaimed secret cult groups are found among artisans and motor park touts. Expectedly, violent clashes between members of these cult groups, especially members of the dreaded Eiye and Aiye confraternities, have spiked in recent times, rocking many communities across Lagos to their foundations.
The perennial confrontations and reprisal killings by the cult groups embroiled in supremacy battles pose serious threats to law and order in Ikorodu and several communities in Lagos. Of late, cult-related killings have assumed a different dimension in the community, as armed youths engaged in shootouts in broad daylight. A number of others have equally been maimed or mugged at parties and market places, resulting in palpable fear among residents.
On Tuesday January 13, 2016, five persons were killed and five others injured in a cult clash in Ikorodu. The fight between the Aye and Eiye confraternities was said to have started around 1am during Itunmeko street carnival. The fight broke out after the Eiye cult group killed two Aye (Black Axe) members who were invited to the carnival; they were said to have been killed on their way home. Those injured were transferred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Ikorodu General Hospital.
Rampaging armed men also hacked a man to death on March 7, 2016 on Jaladugbo Street in Ikorodu. The deceased reportedly known as Sunshine was hacked to death by some cultists who shot sporadically before escaping on a motorcycle. Again, a 32-year-old surveyor, identified simply as Adekunle, and five others were shot dead in a hotel in Ikorodu on July 6, 2015, when suspected Eiye and Aiye confraternity members engaged in a shootout in a hotel in the Itumoja and Allison area of the community.
The violent clashes between the vicious gangs mostly occur in notable areas of Ikorodu, including Igbogbo, Odogunyan, Agbede, Odo Nla,Ita Oluwo, First and Second Gates, Odo Kekere, Ladega, Transformer and parts of Ogijo. The location of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) to the residential area has also contributed to the escalation of clashes between contending cult gangs as members of Eiye Confraternity and others battle for supremacy endlessly. Findings revealed that the deadly clashes started in late 2014, after a member of Aiye gang accused a member of Eiye Confraternity of snatching his girlfriend. A few days later, the Eiye member was gruesomely murdered leading to series of reprisal attacks between the two rival gangs that has refused to abate to date.
Land grabbers
Dare-devil land grabbers have also spread fear among residents of Igbokuta, Ishawo, Imowo Nla, Imowo kekere, Isiu and Igbogbo areas of Ikorodu. On April 1, 2016, suspected land grabbers opened fire on aggrieved residents of Isiu community in an attempt to forcibly takeover their farmlands, leading to the death of an unidentified man.
Two weeks later, a father of three, Saheed Agbede, was also killed in the Ire-Agunfoye area of Igbogbo, Ikorodu, during an ambush by suspected land grabbers. A youth, Yinka Olatunji, was said to have been severely injured after some people described as land grabbers stormed Imowonla and attacked residents with matchetes and guns.
An Imowonla indigene, Mr Olusegun Ajayi, who blamed the police for being ‘ineffective’, reportedly said: “I woke up around 6am and heard strange noise and gun shots. I wanted to use the toilet but I had to run back immediately for my life. They spoilt our things, fired shots to scare women, came into our houses and flung away our things. We can’t even stay in the house because of fear of being killed. We want the government to come to our rescue. We wonder how police officers will connive with land grabbers when Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has given an order that there should not be anything of such.” Although a few arrests were made by the police shortly after the incidents but, according to residents, they are yet to be prosecuted.
The Nation learnt that some suspected cultists have also been engaging in land grabbing activities lately. Some of them, our correspondent gathered, are hired by rival property agents and family members to secure vast landed property as well as intimidate contending parties in a bid to forcibly take over ownership of controversial property.
The dislodging of pipeline vandals by military personnel from the creeks of Ikorodu is responsible for the relocation of vandals to some parts of the town where they have continued with their deadly operation and reign of terror on residents.
The proximity of the town to neighbouring communities in Ogun State has also made it easy for kidnappers to ferry their victims out of the community to evade arrest by security operatives. The waterways and coastal areas of Ikorodu and other areas of the state have also served as highway for robbery gangs and kidnappers to carry out deadly operations with little or no resistance from security forces.
For example, in June last year, a group of armed robbers successfully raided two commercial banks in Ipakodo Ebute near Ogolonto in Ikorodu carting away unspecified amount of money. It was learnt that the robbers used speed boats in accessing and escaping from the community after the operation that lasted several hours.
In the Festac Town and other areas along the Badagry road axis, the story is the same for the residents. Dare-devil armed robbers and kidnappers have turned the area, once a choice place-to-be for many into a no-go area. The criminals use the creeks surrounding the area to terrorise the people. Gunmen kidnapped the monarch of Iba Local Council Development Area, Lagos, Kabiyesi Yushau Goriola Oseni, and killed his guard and one other person in the process.
Prior to this period, Shomolu, Akoka and Bariga areas of Lagos were generally known as the printing headquarters of Lagos. Clashes among the youths were very rare. But the story is different now. Violent clashes between dreaded Eiye and Aiye confraternities have made living in the areas as nightmarish as it can ever get.
A little over a year ago, a popular leader of one of the groups, Segun Opere, aka Shaggy, was hacked to death in broadday light. As expected, his death led to several counter-killings and kidnapping of rival members. For months, residents of Akoka, Ilaje and Bariga, lived in perpetual fear, not knowing what the day has in stock for them.
In one of such killings, a leader of a rival group was kidnapped. For days, the police and his family, particularly his mother, searched and begged his abductors to release him. But, his corpse was later retrieved by the police in the lagoon close to the University of Lagos, with his hands and legs tied.
A source, who did not want to be named, said: “He was a leader of a rival gang. Soon after the death of the leader of the other group around Akoka, he ran away. Somebody said he went to Calabar. But he came back to Lagos, believing that the hunt for him must have eased. But he was kidnapped days after and his corpse was found dumped in the lagoon.”
The war of attrition among the members of the rival groups got to a head at a point, according to sources, when it became illegal for rival members to cross the popular Saint Finbar’s College road to the other side. While one group ruled the Shomolu side, the other ruled the Ilaje-Akoka side of the road.
However, sources who spoke with our correspondent said relative peace may have returned to the areas. Leaders of the two rival cult groups in the areas recently held a meeting, during which both parties agreed to sheathe their swords and work for peace.
Residents of the Apapa road area of Oyingbo go to bed with only one eye closed every night. Gruesome killings, which include beheading of rival cult members set the area apart from other areas in the state.
Sometime ago, the headless body of a man was found in the Ebute Metta area, while the head was allegedly found where it was dumped in the Iponri area of the state, some kilometers away from where the body was found.
Effects
Not a few residents, particularly business owners, have been at the receiving end of the activities of cult gangs in these communities. Suspected cultists have been fingered in cases of stealing, raping of girls and robbing of shop owners at gun point.
In the killings at Itumoja area last year, a number of shops were forced open and looted by the cult boys, while the shop owners were made to lick their wounds.
A resident, Joshua Adelaja, told our correspondent that “business is no longer like before as a result of deadly clashes between various cult groups in Ikorodu. The boys would shoot indiscriminately and robbed residents and shop owners of their hard earned money. We are tired of reporting them to police because the police have not been able to put them in check.
“Our lives are endangered because security operatives have not been up to the task in containing the orgy of killings by the cult boys, thereby leading to closure of businesses and loss of property on a daily basis. The boys are counting scores to accomplish their ego fight and there is no doubt that the killings would not stop until security forces rejig their effort to stop them.”
“The situation is worsened by the fact that the nearest police station in Ikorodu North, notorious for the deadly clashes is situated on Shagamu road, near the central motorpark and is miles away from the worst hit areas,” said another resident who identified herself simply as Aderayo.
A patent medicine shop owner in Odogunyan area, Mr Innocent Okochi said the gang war has taken toll on his business.
He said: “The cult boys have been robbing people, including commercial motorcyclists popularly called Okada and shop owners. My business has been affected because people no longer come out after they return home from work in order to avoid being attacked. A number of shop owners have relocated from this community because of the incessant attack by the marauding boys. I have also made up my mind to relocate in the next few weeks because I don’t want to fall victim too.”
A grocery trader who did not want her name in print confirmed that the area is becoming extremely unsafe adding that she has been robber on more than two occasions by the cultists.
“The boys are becoming deadlier and I don’t want to lose my life after being robbed several times. I have lost money and goods during such attacks and I know how deadly they are if they cannot get money from their victims, hence, I am moving out of this community to Mushin where I came from,” he said.
Although, some community leaders who spoke in confidence with our correspondent said the situation is relatively under control now, but a resident Alhaji Jelili Oladejo, disagreed. He said the boys usually hibernate after carrying out their operations in order to avoid being arrested by policemen.
He said: “Although some suspected cultists have been arrested and handed to police but the killings are yet to abate because the suspects are released a few days after their arrest and they continue to kill and rob people in the neighbourhood.
It was providence that saved me from untimely death when I was almost hit by stray bullets during an exchange of gun fire by the cultists at a party in the Ita Oluwo area a few weeks ago. The boys are mostly children of landlords and community leaders and this is the reason why it has become difficult to permanently contain them.”
Local vigilance groups
While the police are hampered by inadequacies such as personnel, equipment and stations, a local vigilance group, Onyabo and Yoruba militant group, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) have been carrying out constant patrols in the neighbourhoods of Ikorodu. Their efforts, according to reliable sources, are yielding good result with the arrest of kingpins of deadly cult groups.
The vigilance groups however appeared overwhelmed as a number of its men have been attacked by cultists in recent times. It will be recalled that chieftain of Onyabo, Afees Oseni, was gruesomely killed by suspected cultists in May this year. Another chieftain of the vigilance group identified simply as Lanre, in a recent interview with our correspondent said that “the cultists had even attacked me more than four times in broad daylight.”
Way out
A community leader who asked not to be named urged the police to strengthen its operation in the community. “I want to urge the government to equip the police and assist the local vigilance groups in order to combat heinous crimes in Ikorodu. There is also need to establish more police stations for effective and time response to violent clashes and crimes in the town.”
A traditional ruler in one of the communities who did not want his name in print called on the state government to put in place proactive measures to flush out criminals from Ikorodu saying that”if urgent steps are not taken to address the increasing lawlessness and insecurity in our community (Ikorodu), the fear of being attacked or killed by armed gangs can lead to the exodus of residents and house owners from here.”
Ibeshe and Ipakodo, two riverine communities in Ikorodu, Lagos State, are also in the throes of a vicious rapist group called Badoo. The group is notorious for raping women and inflicting injuries on their victims. Last year, a 62-year-old widow identified as Mrs. Ogunleye, and her two children, Seun and Funlola, fell victim to the marauding rapists.
It was learnt that the rapists gained access to the family’s apartment and hacked their victims with a cutlass, leaving them in a pool of blood.
“The woman’s husband died long time ago and she has been taking care of their two children alone. The boy that attacked them is a student. It was around 7am that the woman and her children cried for help. People rushed into their residence and took them to the hospital. Their faces were covered in blood,” said a resident identified simply as Olagoke.
On Friday, October 21, 2016, the rapists attacked two couples in two separate houses at Oluwoye community in Ibeshe, killing a pregnant woman and injuring others, including two kids – Rodiat, 6, and five-year-old Opeyemi.
The assailants, it was learnt, gained access to one of the couple’s apartment around 2am that day through the window and killed the 30-year-old pregnant woman, Afusat Yusuf, after a failed attempt to rape her. The deceased’s husband, Kazeem, was also hacked by the assailant when he tried to engage him in a fight.
Not done, the assailants went to a neighbouring building and unleashed terror on another couple, 52-year-old Sunday Robert and his wife, before he fled the area.
Again on June 5, 2016, Badoo struck at Oke Ota community, also in Ibeshe, raped and killed a 27-year-old Ghanaian, identified as Obinna. Her nine-month-old baby was rescued by residents in a pool of blood.
About a month after, on July 9, 2016, the gang attacked one 60-year-old Francisca and blinded her 10-year-old daughter, Marvellous. On Saturday, July 23, 2016, one of the assailants sneaked into a Celestial Church of Christ in Itesiwaju community – a suburb of Ibese – while a vigil was ongoing and abducted an eight-year-old girl. He raped the girl to a coma but was caught later that day and set ablaze by a mob.
The police had arrested a suspected member of the gang sometime in June 2016, but the arrest later became controversial after the suspect said he was mistaken for a member of the gang.
“It was some community leaders who prevailed on us to stop the protest. We are tired of these attacks. We have cried out to the Lagos State Government but no help is forthcoming. Our lives are seriously in danger.
“We have vigilantes in the community, but this menace is beyond what they alone can tackle. They were on duty when the incident happened. We really need government to help us tackle members of the gang and their sponsors,” one of the protesters said.
A resident, Olaofe Junaid disclosed to The Nation that many residents had left the community in the wake of the rape gang.
He said: “Not a few residents have moved out of the community because there is no end to these attacks. We have not been sleeping with our two eyes closed for the fear of these mindless rapists and the inability of the law enforcement agents to secure our lives.”
One Million Boys
Last year, some of the areas which a dreaded cult gang, One Million Boys, have attacked include Ojo, Iba, Shibiri, Agbara, Afromedia, Okokomaiko, Ijanikin and other areas located in Ojo and Badagry local government areas. According to eyewitness account, during the recent raids, residents who did not have money or valuables to give to them, were attacked with machetes. Among other victims, women were not spared, as some of them were raped and others were told to have sex with their blood relations.
However, while the atrocity was going on, some youths mobilised themselves and resisted their operation and in the process, four suspects were apprehended and handed over to the police, while others escaped.
The One Million Boys even threatened to return to deal with residents of a Lagos community, after some members of the gang were arrested for robbery. In May last year, about 18 members of the terror gang, whose ages range between 14 and 17, allegedly invaded and robbed not less than 15 houses in Isheri-Olofin, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, last Saturday. The boys, who were armed with matchetes, guns and other dangerous weapons, raided houses on Fasasi, Anuoluwapo, Fasasi Balogun and Orelope Streets from 12 am to 3am.
The gangsters were said to have announced their presence with sporadic gunshots. Items, including DVD players, undisclosed cash, jewelry and sundry phones, were carted away in Ghana-must-go bags by the hoodlums. It was learnt that those who hesitated to release their belongings were brutally dealt with matchete cuts during the operation. Residents, who spoke with our correspondent, said that about five landlords who sustained injuries during the robbery operation were in critical condition at the state General Hospital, Igando.
An elderly member of a local vigilance group, identified simply as Baba Kazeem, was dealt several matchete blows and shot during the operation, but was later treated at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. A 60-year-old woman, simply known as Iya Rotimi, was wounded by the hoodlums, while an unidentified man and his wife were brutalised by the hoodlums for not having valuables at home.
It was learnt that the dare-devil boys took to their heels with their loots after they were confronted by angry residents. One of the suspects, called Babyface, was, however, caught at Idimu, and led the police to arrest three other members of the group, including one Yar’Adua. The Nation gathered that their arrest was carried out by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Idimu Police Station, Mr. Solomon Adebayo Fayomi, who led his men to the scene of the incident following distress calls by residents.
The arrested suspects would have been lynched by the angry residents, but for the intervention of the DPO, who pleaded with residents not to resort to jungle justice.
A community leader, Elder Lanre Ojutalayo, said: “We were having a party in front of our house when the boys, numbering about 20, passed through our street, but we did not know that they were hoodlums.
“Suddenly, we started hearing gunshots from adjoining streets, and before we knew what was happening, one of my husband’s family members who live on one of the streets raided, ran towards our house to ask for help. He had blood all over him and said that he was attacked with matchete by the boys when they threatened to kill his wife, because they could not find valuables in their home.
“The wicked boys also threatened to kill a three-month-old baby when his parents explained that they did not have money at home. They later spared the baby after carting away valuables in the apartment.”
Ojutalayo added: “The hoodlums fled after residents confronted them, but we succeeded in arresting some of them with the aid of policemen who answered our distress calls. We would have killed them, but for the DPO who asked us not to take the law into our hands.
Another resident, Sunday Okafor, called on the police and other security agents to be proactive in protecting innocent people from the heartless gang. “We are no longer safe because some of members of the gang arrested by the police have since returned to continue their reign of terror in this community. Residents now live in fear and we want both the state government and security agents to contain the boys and protect us.”
Awawa Boys in Agege
In Agege and its environ, dreaded street youths called Awawa Boys are holding residents by the jugular. They started out as street boys in Agege and terrorised the neighbourhoods spreading to the adjourning communities such as Dopemu, Ifako/Ijaiye, Agbado, Abule Egba, Ogba and Ojodu, among others. Quite a number of the boys, including a 13-year-old member, Opeyemi Johnson, have been arrested by the police, albeit, members of the gang are still waxing stronger in their nefarious act.
A member of the Community Development Association in the Oniwaya area of Agege, Chief Oladele Williams, who blamed the development on lack of parental care, urged the state government and the police to be proactive in curbing the activities of the boys in Agege.
Hear him: “Awawa boys are a direct result of lack of parental care. They are children who did not receive enough moral rectitude from their parents, hence, they left home to join a terror gang and became a nuisance to their families and the society at large.
“We have not been enjoying peace since the gang emerged. They have robbed, brutalised and even killed people in the neighbourhoods of Agege and we are urging both the Lagos and police authorities to free us from this dare devil gang.”
The state Commissioner for Police, Fatai Owoseni, recently assured residents of adequate security and protection of lives and property. At a Town Hall Meeting on Security with the Governor held on December 13, 2016, Owoseni disclosed that 246 people died from cult clashes, gangsterism, youth restiveness and street fights. He said: “The menace is most prevalent in areas within Ijede, Morogbo and Surulere Police Area Commands respectively. This cuts across the three senatorial districts of the state. Clashes are mainly for supremacy as well as claim to territories for the purpose of collecting illegal levies from business owners and motorists.
“The gangsters are sometimes employed to settle scores of various types and used as foot soldiers by some very important personalities in the society. Identified groups include ‘Aye,’ ‘Eiye,’ ‘Awawa Boys,’ and ‘One Million Boys’. Two groups -‘Owonikoko and Happiness’- are made of members with ages between 10 and 14 years,” he added.
According to him, “About 486 armed robbery suspects were arrested, while 46 of them were killed during confrontations with the police,” adding that 38 suspected kidnappers were arrested and 181 other suspects were arrested in connection with cultism and street fights. Owoseni said within the year under review, 355 distressed robbery calls were received. Of these, 85 calls were false, while 179 were prevented due to swift response, just as 91 robbery cases could not be prevented from happening.
“Areas within Ogba Area Police Command accounted for the highest number. Fifty-one cases of kidnapping were recorded, with Ijede Police Area Command accounting for the highest number of 47%. They may not be unconnected with the physical and cultural environment of the area. Most of the communities affected can be easily accessed through the many hidden water/streams and they also have oil pipeline run through them,” he explained.
He added: “All of us are bothered. As the people are bothered, government is bothered and law enforcement institutions in the state are bothered. We are looking at the issue of kidnapping and the only thing we can tell the good people of Lagos is that government is doing everything possible and is deploying all arsenals of the state towards ensuring that we put a stop to all these and at the same time seize this opportunity to tell the fellows engaging in these activities to channel their energy to lawful conduct.
“They should divert their energy into productive use. The government has opened up lots of opportunities for people that want to access soft loans for small scale businesses and industries, the Bank of Industry (BOI), for instance is there, they have been putting up adverts, let them have a change of mind, drop their weapons, access these funds that government at the state and federal levels.”
Earlier in November 2016, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, greatly boosted the fighting strength of the police when he donated modern security equipment and vehicles worth billions of naira to the state Police Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
At the handing over ceremony, Ambode charged the police to ensure that the equipment were deployed effectively to tackle criminal activities and secure lives and property. The equipment included 100 4-door salon cars, 55 Ford Ranger pick-ups, 10 Toyota Land Cruiser pick-ups, 15 BMW power bikes, 100 power bikes, Isuzu trucks, three (3) helicopters, two(2) gun boats, 15 armoured personnel carriers, revolving lights, siren and public address system, vehicular radio communicators, security gadgets including bullet proof vests, helmets, handcuffs, etc, uniforms, kits and improved insurance and death benefit schemes for officers, put the total cost of acquiring the equipment to N4.765bn.
He said: “Our Police Command will have its operations significantly driven by the right technology and equipment that will match the emerging sophistication of crime in our contemporary time. Members of the Police Command have been undergoing training to better equip them for the job. We have also rebranded the Rapid Response Squad of the state Police Command to give them a new identity.
“Given the encouraging partnership and support of well-meaning citizens and corporate organisations, we are on course to making our state a safe haven only for law abiding citizens”, he said.
As part of the efforts aimed at checking the spate of kidnapping in the state, the Lagos State House of Assembly recently passed a bill into law, with stiff penalties including death sentence for offenders.
The lawmakers passed the Law to Provide for the Prohibition of the Act of Kidnapping and for Other Connected Purposes after the third reading.
The law prescribes death sentence for kidnappers whose victims die in their custody and life sentence for those whose victims do not die in the hands of their abductors.
The bill states that any person who kidnaps, abducts, detains, captures or takes another person by any means or trick with intent to demand ransom or do anything against his/her will, commits an offence.
The bill also stipulates life imprisonment for anyone who makes an attempt to kidnap another person.
Also the bill prescribes seven years imprisonment for anyone making false representation to release a kidnapped or abducted person. The lawmakers also approves 25 years imprisonment as penalty for anyone found guilty of threatening to kidnap another person through phone call, e-mail, text message or any other means of communication.
The bill prescribes penalty for any person, who knowingly or wilfully allows or permits his premises, building or a place or belonging to which he has control of, to be used for the purpose of keeping a person kidnapped. According to the bill, such a person is guilty of an offence under the law and liable to 14 years imprisonment without an option of fine. Governor Ambode has since signed the bill into law.
