5 killed, scores injured as cultists clash in Lagos

There was pandemonium, sorrow, tears and blood when suspected rival cult gangs clashed in the Ijora-Badia area of Apapa Iganmu, Lagos, on Monday, 12 January, 2015, leaving 5 people dead while scores were injured in the fracas.

According to findings by the police, those killed were identified as Ramon Oladejo, Lateef Abdullahi, Yusuf, Rasheed and Alausa.

Punch Metro reports that Ramon Oladejo, an Oyo State indigene who was a meat seller in a market in the community, was on his way to work on the fateful morning when he was shot dead, leaving behind a 27-year-old widow, Rasheedat, and four kids.

Another victim, Lateef, a 30-year-old motorcyclist, would have been appointed the chairman of the riders association in the area when he met his untimely demise.

Information gleaned from residence has it that the five victims were shot dead by hoodlums known as the Aliwo boys, who stormed the area to allegedly carry out reprisal attacks. The gang was said to be about 50 in number and carried sophisticated arms.

A source who spoke to Punch said:

"On Monday morning, the Aliwo boys trooped out from across the bridge where they have their base and blocked the main road.

They cannot be less than 50. Many of them had guns and opened fire on people on the road. Bullets hit 17 people actually, but only five people died.

The others were seriously injured and were quickly taken to different hospitals where they are receiving treatments."

The attack, according to some residents, might not be unconnected a supremacy battle that has engulfed the motorcyclist union in the area for sometime now.

On the 29th of December, 2014, two youths were attacked while sleeping on Sule Lane in the area and shot dead, while several others were cut with machetes as many vehicles were vandalised.

A resident, Feranmi Bolajoko, seems to believe so.

"This may be the reason why after they shot Lati (Lateef), they also butchered him with cutlasses.

After killing him, they snapped his corpse and started circulating the picture to show they had finished him off.

Lati was supposed to be made the chairman of the tricycle riders after the death of the former leader."

Also, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Apapa Iganmu, Muyiwa Jimoh, said the fracas was a supremacy battle for a park, which had been ongoing for some time.

"We have however moved in security men to safeguard the lives and property of the people. I was also born there and can feel their pain and sorrow."

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident, stating that 27 suspects had been arrested.

"One Lateef Abdullahi, aged 30 years of Akorede area, Ijora, was killed during the clash. Twenty-seven suspects were arrested. Investigations are ongoing to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the incident."