Two killed, others injured as gunmen attack Lagos community
Two people have been killed and scores injured in a wave of violence that has swept through the Ijegun Egba community in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the attacks, which occurred on Monday and Tuesday, were carried out by armed men who invaded the community and started shooting and attacking residents with cutlasses and axes.
The deceased were identified as 40-year-old Gbenga Areagbo, a sickle cell patient, and Oladapo Olukoya, whose body was reportedly taken away by the killers through a jetty to the Ibasa area of the community.
According to eyewitnesses, trouble started last Thursday when armed men from the Ibasa area of the community invaded the jetty at Ijegun Egba, harassing and robbing residents.
The attacks however escalated as the hoodlums were said to have returned on Monday to wreak havoc on the community.
A resident who identified himself simply as Kudus told PUNCH Metro, “On Thursday evening, some armed thugs from Ibasa came in through a jetty into Ijegun Egba and began to attack our people. They identified an indigene of our town, Wasiu Ademola and they descended on him.”
Meanwhile, the residents were said to have reported the incident to the police at the Satellite Town Police Station, but no action was taken.
According to another resident, Taiwo Enimola, the police allegedly claimed that the community was peaceful, despite the growing evidence of violence.
“The attacks took a deadly turn on Monday when the hoodlums invaded the Jetty area again. That was when they shot Olukoya to death. Gbenga Areagbo was also killed in a separate attack, when the hoodlums invaded the Ade Oshodi junction area, shooting and hacking him with axes,” he added.
Residents of the Ijegun Egba community have since expressed outrage over the killings while also criticising the police for their alleged inactions.
One of the leaders in the community, Saeed Ayinde, while speaking on the death of Areagbo, said, “He was sitting down with one of his friends, Lateef Arowolo, at the Ade Oshodi junction on Ijegun Egba, when the hoodlums invaded the area with arms and ammunition. They came in about three vehicles and motorcycles, brandishing guns and cutlasses.
“Lateef only narrowly escaped death but they attacked Gbenga, who was caught on the spot. They asked if he was Lateef and when he told them that he was not, they shot him at very close range and also used axes to cut him.”
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, did not respond to calls made to his telephone line. A text message sent to him had yet to be responded to as of the time this report was filed.
