- We can’t move freely, residents lament
Following persistent strikes by cultists in Lagos Island, Lagos State, residents of the community are now living in fear and calling on government and the police for quick intervention. The life-threatening situation in the area, according to residents has paralysed commercial activities, despite several efforts made to ensure peace within the community.
The Point gathered that a group of cult members called ‘Sego Boys’ had laid siege to the community and had been terrorising residents for some time now. The cult group, according to sources, had been unleashing terror on the people in areas like Oju Olokun, Pako, Oja Oba and others areas in the Lagos Island.
It was learnt that no fewer than two people lost their lives, while several other innocent residents sustained injuries of various degrees the last time the deadly ‘Sego Boys’ struck in the community. The Point gathered that one of the two persons killed during the clash was a young man, whose real identity could not be ascertained.
According to some residents, the victim’s name was Kola but others identified him simply as Ramon. One fact, however, remains that the victim, alleged to be a member of one of the cult groups operating in the area, met his waterloo in the hands of rival gang members, who hacked him to death during a clash in the Pako area located within the community.
The Point gathered that Kola was killed during a reprisal attack allegedly launched by his group on the so called ‘Sego Boys’ at the Pako area of Lagos Island. The victim, according to information gathered by The Point, fell into the trap of the rival cult group during the violent encounter, while his colleagues left him behind and fled the area.
Kola was allegedly dealt several blows of machete and eventually hacked to death by the ‘Sego Boys’. A resident of the area, who simply identified himself as Lekan, told our correspondent, “I witnessed the incident with my two eyes, as the boy was being hacked to death. It was in the afternoon and when I saw the scene, I was not myself throughout that day. I can’t believe there are people who are so wicked and callous like that.
On that fateful day, when I heard riotous noise on our street, I thought it was just a crisis between Okada riders and residents, but when I peeped through the window, I discovered that the whole street had been deserted and I saw only the hoodlums who were about 30 wielding and brandishing machetes.
“Though I had heard a lot about those boys, that was the first day I saw them in action with my eyes. Everyone ran for their lives from the street, but all of a sudden, another group of boys emerged with cutlasses and they started fighting.
The fight was so fierce that many of them sustained serious and lifethreatening injuries, but unfortunately for one of them who was unable to escape from the scene of the clash, he was held down, mobbed and macheted to death by the other boys.
The whole incident was like a drama to me because they didn’t spend up to 10 minutes before they killed the boy.” Corroborating Lekan’s account of the violence unleashed on the community by the cult gangs, another resident of Oju Olokun, Gbenga Kukoyi, said, “The issue of the so called ‘Sego Boys’ is getting too persistent in this area.
There is no how you will not hear about their violent activities in a month. And even in recent times, they have constituted themselves into a big threat to us in this area, and we still wonder when the police will save us from these hoodlums. The last time we heard that some of them were arrested by SARS operatives in Ikeja, we were happy. But after a short while, some of them returned and started prowling our streets without any qualm.”
Kukoyi added that recently the police mediated and attempted to broker peace between the members of the so called groups, but the ‘Sego Boys’ still launched surprise attacks on residents of Oja Oba and Oju Olokun.
“Recently, police has mediated in the crises between the groups and we thought peace would now reign in our area, only for the sego boys to come back and start to attack people in this area. As I am talking to you, we have some of our people who are receiving treatment in hospitals for the injuries sustained during the attack.
One woman called Tinuke and Mr. Rasheed were attacked by these same people. “According to what I heard, Mr. Rasheed was coming from work at night when he passed through the ‘Sego Boys’ area; they ran after him and macheted him. It was God that saved him, although he sustained serious injuries. When I saw his picture I just prayed he would not die in the hospital.
The other person was a woman whom I learnt her name is Tinuke. She, too, was stabbed by the boys on the head when she went to buy food in that area. As it is, we are all living in fear because you don’t know where you will go to and they will run after you, seeing you as a target from the enemy’s stronghold.”
It was also leant that an innocent teenager, whose identity had yet to be ascertained as at the time of writing this report, was also killed by the same group. The teenager, who was an apprentice, was hacked to death while running an errand for his boss. Meanwhile, The Point observed some heavily armed police operatives carrying out surveillance in the area during the week.
Mr. Rasheed was coming from work at night when he passed through the ‘Sego boys’ area; they ran after him and macheted him. It was God that saved him, although he sustained serious injuries. When I saw his picture, I just prayed he would not die in the hospital
A source said that the anti-crime police operatives were deployed to the area to maintain peace following the recent violent clashes in the community between members of the rival gangs. A community leader in the area, who pleaded anonymity, said, “We are seriously begging government and the police to help us to tame the hoodlums in this area. We are all living in fear.
In spite of the efforts made by the police to put an end to the violence, the boys are not deterred. The situation has gone worse, to the extent that we, the residents, could not move freely again, especially at night. We implore the Lagos State Government to help us to flush out these people from this community before we are all forced to run away from our houses.”
