Two die, scores injured in gang war

Tajudeen Adebanjo

Two persons were reported killed on Monday during a clash between rival gangs at Aguda in Coker-Aguda Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State.

The clash between the rival gangs in Itire and Aguda, which lasted for hours, forced residents to stay indoor, while businesses closed abruptly. Many were injured.

The streets in Aguda were deserted, as thugs broke bottles and damaged vehicles.

Many who plied the route to their offices made use of alternative distant routes.

The commotion paralysed activities at the Coker-Aguda LCDA secretariat, as many council workers hurriedly left for home.

Those living outside the council vicinity waited till about 3:30pm when the crisis had subsided before going home.

The hoodlums attacked one another with weapons such as cutlasses, bottles, knives, among others. Some carried guns.

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Residents of Enitan, Adetola and Willy Omiyi streets appealed to the police and others to beef up security for fear of reprisal.

They said the culprits should be arrested and prosecuted.

Men of the State Anti-cultism and Robbery team later came to the trouble spots and arrested some of the hoodlums.

The age-long rival clash between Itire and Aguda has claimed lives. Belongings worth millions of naira have been destroyed.

It was alleged that some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employment Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) were involved in the fracas.

But NURTW Lagos State Council Secretary Comrade Seyi Bankole denied the involvement of their members in the clash.

He told The Nation that the fight was between street boys.

“It was a fight between area boys. It has nothing to do with the transport unions. We have asked our members and they told us that none of them was involved in the crisis. Even the one that was reported to have been killed was not on the scene of the incident. He is alive. People should not report what is not true,” he said.

Police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP),  said: “We have arrested 75 suspects. Twenty-two shops and some vehicles were vandalised.”

He said that the command under Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu has devised a means to deal with hoodlums disrupting peace in the society.