Two policemen and unspecified number of people were alleged to have been killed by soldiers and rampaging hoodlums in a wave of violence that has enveloped the Ajegunle area of Lagos State.
One of the policemen killed in the fighting was also said to have been set ablaze by some hoodlums along Ojo Road, while a teenager identified as Emeka was shot dead as he tried to evacuate his mother’s belongings from an inferno ravaging their residence at the Layinka area in Ajegunle..
One Emeka, who was the only son of his parents, was said to have lost his father a few years ago. But his mother, popularly known as Mama Emeka, went for the funeral ceremony of her father in her home state, leaving Emeka behind to take charge of their apartment.
The suspected hoodlums from Amukoko were alleged to have set three houses ablaze, including Emeka’s mother’s residence. The young man died on the spot as fire also ravaged his corpse.
A police inspector attached to the Amukoko Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that when the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Amukoko Police Station, CSP Godwin Esin, tried to stop the hoodlums from setting the buildings ablaze, one of them almost cut off the DPO’s finger with a machete.
Our correspondent gathered that residents did not have the courage to salvage their belongings from the three burning houses, including a storey building, for the fear of being hit by stray bullets from the sporadic gunshots allegedly fired by the suspected hoodlums.
What began as a battle of supremacy between some youths from Olumokun Street and its environs in Amukoko and their counterparts in Layinka Street and the neighbouring streets in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State, soon snowballed into a fierce battle that claimed some lives in both communities.
In the confusion that ensued, the police Area ‘B’ Commander, ACP Sanni Sabo, was said to have deployed anti-robbery patrol teams from the command and all the police stations under him to the scene of the violence.
An Armoured Personal Carrier was stationed on the Layinka – Olumokun bridge, where a police patrol vehicle belonging to the Ajegunle Police Station was burnt during a similar violence recently.
The hoodlums were said to have resorted to throwing all kinds of missiles, including broken bottles, broken tiles and even fired gunshots at the policemen, who quickly drove away from the scene.
Soldiers led by an officer with the rank of an Army major, were deployed in the area to restore peace, but the hoodlums were said to have even resisted
them.
A man, who identified himself as simply Patrick said that the soldiers ordered residents to stay indoors, declaring “This is war!”
Patrick said, “Suddenly, the soldiers spread to different streets. They took positions and lay on their stomach as if there were engaging enemy forces. We began to hear gunshots from different directions. People were running to different directions for safety. Many people were hit by stray bullets. While some survived, the unlucky ones died instantly. But most people the soldiers targeted were the hoodlums. They were the perpetrators.
“Some of the bad boys were just fomenting trouble to utilise the opportunity to rob innocent people of their cash and other valuables. They succeeded in their criminal plan as many lost money and handsets to the hoodlums. Two person were short dead at Rufai Street, few at Layinka and Amukoko, another at Ojoh Lane junction. They said both soldiers and hoodlums were shooting; so it would be difficult to know how many the hoodlums killed and how many the soldiers killed. But over 20 people were killed. Someone said the number of people killed is 23. I don’t know the real statistics. Many died in hospital. Soldiers carried some corpses away. So, nobody can give the right figure. Some died later and were hurriedly buried in the cemetery.”
The next day, the soldiers were said to have carried out a house-to-house search in the area to identify suspected hoodlums.
Those who could not give a good account of themselves were whisked away and later handed over to the police, who detained them at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos.
One of those killed during the violence was a man identified as Chukwudi Nwocha. He was shot around Ojoh Lane junction along Layinka Street.
Chukwudi’s elder brother’s wife, Mrs. Nwocha, told our correspondent that the victim, “Heard that the residence of his elder sister, Chikaodi, was among the houses set ablaze and was going there to know what really happened when the soldiers began to fire. The bullets hit him in the stomach and exited. His intestine gushed out. He tried to survive as he used his hands to pack his intestines back into to his stomach. But he couldn’t make it as he died on his way back to his residence at Alafia Street, Ajegunle.
“We had to move his corpse to the East that same day and we buried him the next day. Chukwudi just returned from the village about a week before the incident occurred. He was preparing to travel to Europe in less than a week’s time before he was shot dead. His documents were ready. That was why many people cried and could not be consoled during his burial in Orlu, Imo State, where he hailed from.”
Another man identified simply as Kalu, was said to have been shot in the waist region and the
bullet exited.
