For the umpteenth time in Lagos State, some
hoodlums, while celebrating the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at the
polls, on Wednesday unleashed mayhem on traders of a particular ethnic group at
the Alaba Rago and Lagos Island areas of the state.
On Lagos Island, the hoodlums were said to have
descended on Igbo traders, accusing them of not voting for their candidate at
the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.
The miscreants, who were armed with dangerous
weapons like cutlasses, broken bottles, jagged woods and knives, struck at
about 9a.m. at Oluwole, Nnamdi Azikwe, Tinubu, Bamgbose and Alli Streets.
Their target were the Igbo traders who were just
opening their respective shops for business, as they were beaten after instructing them that all
their shops should remain locked for the day.
Whilst the lockdown was going on, the armed
hoodlums were chanting ‘Igbos should go back to their states’, ‘leave Lagos
alone’, ‘Go and do business in your states, this is Lagos’.
According to them, they had wooed the Igbo traders
to vote for Buhari, but they refused and voted for the opposition, adding that the Igbo traders must
vote whosoever they are asked to vote for seeing that they are gaining
economically from the state.
Prior to the arrival of the police to quell the
situation, the intimidated traders had closed shop and fled to safety.
Tentative peace was somewhat restored after the
Area 'A' Commander, Bode Ojajuni, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, deployed
policemen in the area.
Similarly, at the Alaba Rago area of Okomaiko, the
hoodlums who were armed with cutlasses, sticks and axes, went on rampage,
destroying wares belonging to traders.
Chanting the popular ‘Sai Baba’ phrase that is
often associated with supporters of the president, the hoodlums, numbering over
hundred, marched from Alaba to Okokomaiko, chanting victory songs.
The hitherto peaceful march soon turned ugly when they
got to the market at Okokomaiko, as they went berserk, destroying hundreds of
shops and wares.
A meat seller who simply gave his name as Tunde
told THISDAY that they had barely returned from the abattoir with the meat they
bought, when the hoodlums besieged them.
According to him, “Although I don’t have a shop, I
have a table where I display my meat. I was in the process of arranging them
when I heard people chanting.
“At first I wasn’t worried because I was just
hearing ‘Sai Baba’. It was when I noticed that the people were running that I
decided to check. Behold, they were scattering people’s wares.
“Many people were injured as they were running. We
would have resisted the attack but they were armed with cutlasses and axes.
That’s how I left my meat and ran away.
“By the time the army from Ojo cantonment and the
police came to restore peace, my meat was on the floor, same with other traders
whose wares were also destroyed.”
THISDAY further gathered that the army was called
as reinforcement after the rampaging hoodlums overpowered the police and
injured some of them.
As at press time, personnel of the Nigerian Army
were still on patrol in the area with backing from operatives of the Rapid
Response Squad (RRS) and FESTAC Police Division.
Although the police were said to have made some
arrests, the residents said they were only scapegoats as the main perpetrators
of the act had fled before the army arrived at the scene.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations
Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said at Alaba Rago, 37 persons were arrested in
connection with the incident.
He said: “The police were alerted and we deployed
operatives there to calm the situation but the hoodlums attacked our men and
severely injured one of them. He is currently recuperating at the hospital.
“We have arrested 37 suspects in connection with the
rampage. On Lagos Island, however, the police were able to contain the
situation before it worsened.”
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