At least one person was killed and several others injured in a violent clash between members of the Oodua Peoples Congress and suspected cultists at Igbonla, Alapere, in the Ketu area of Lagos State.
Our correspondents gathered that the fracas, which has resulted in the suspension of commercial activities in the area for days now, was sparked off by a disagreement between members of the two groups over a lady said to be the girlfriend of an OPC member.
According to sources, trouble began when one of the OPC members, identified as Tunde Lasisi, allegedly invited his other colleagues to launch an attack on a suspected cult member, who had been disturbing his girlfriend. Tunde was said to have been keeping surveillance on the member of the Eye confraternity, who he alleged had been threatening his girlfriend, following her refusal to give in to his proposal for a relationship.
The attack, however, was mistakenly carried out against a wrong target, simply identified as Nuru Horror, who died following injuries sustained from “severe cuts from machetes and other sharp objects” used on him.
It was gathered that while the suspected cultists at their usual spot at Igbonla Street, off Mascara Street, Alapere, Ketu, had taken to their heels upon a tip-off that the OPC members were coming for them, the victim, Nuru, who was also popularly called ‘Horror’ apparently had thought he would not be involved since he was not a member of the cult group.
But unfortunately, Nuru was caught in the middle of the attack and allegedly dealt several machete blows by the OPC members before he gave up the ghost in a nearby hospital he was rushed to.
Findings by our correspondent also revealed that the OPC members that attacked the victim were led by one Idowu Owoyemi, popularly called ‘Arsenal’.
Sources also hinted that Idowu had allegedly, in the past, perpetrated crime in the area while hiding under the cover of the OPC.
A resident, Mutiu Opeyemi, explained, “He is not truly an OPC member. He just moves around with some of them. Even most of them that claim to be OPC members in this area are criminals. Idowu himself, who killed this innocent boy, is well-known to all in this area as a suspected robber. He took over from his brother, who died a few years ago. His brother was the one that was bearing that name Arsenal before he took it over after his death.
“Both of them were known for aiding robbery activities in this area. From this Igbonla to Mascara, Alapere and others, they are notorious for their activities. Police should not shy away from bringing them to book, because this boy that they killed was an innocent person.”
Our correspondent also gathered that the incident led to a massive raid of the area by police operatives from the Ketu division.
Another resident of the area, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said, “The police have been disturbing us since the incident happened. We cannot open our shops because they have been coming to search the area; they are just looking for who they will take his money.”
A manager of a brothel in the area, who simply identified himself as Ekene, said that the frequent raid and arrests carried out in the area by the police since the incident had negatively affected patronage.
“Arrests by the police is a normal thing when something like this happens, because by so doing, sanity will be restored in the area as some other people may want to take advantage of the development to perpetrate other criminal activities. Even the attacked group may want to carry out their own retaliation and there will be more casualties,” a man simply identified as Moshood said.
Efforts by our correspondent to contact the OPC leader in the area on the development proved
abortive.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Chike Oti, said, “Police investigation is ongoing to unravel the criminals behind the incident.”
He also said police would ensure that Lagos streets were rid of suspected criminals.
