By
Residents of
Obadare-Iba Community along Lagos University Ojo, LASU-Iba Expressway Road Lagos
sleeps with one eye open. The entire community is in danger and has fallen into
the command of dare-devil ritual killers, kidnappers and armed robbers in the
area.
Taking stock
of the last six years, since the terror started in the area, the residents,
including the landlords and tenants’ association officials and road users
lamented over the wanton killing that has been going on the face of security
agents that ply the roads on daily basis in the area.
According to
the residents who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity to avoid
being hacked down by the assailants, who kill for ritual purposes said the
gruesome murder of innocent Nigerians have been on in the last six years.
The killings
are said to always take place in between a community called Obadare in Alimosho
local government Area, and in between the Iba-Ojo axis of the road which is Ojo
Local Government Area, on the bridge that serves the two communities.
“There are lots of problems and troubles
constituted by armed robbers, kidnappers and ritual killers in this area,” one
of the officials stated.
“On top of that boundary bridge, as from 8pm
nobody can pass there alone by trekking across the bridge alone. Either you are
hit by stick or you are kidnapped and taken under the bridge and that is the
end of the person.”
The robbery
attacks are targeted at workers who were returning from work in the evening
while other victims of the criminals are businessmen and women as well as okada
riders and their passengers. Residents of the area, who live at along, Iyana
School Bus-Stop, Iba, said the road has become too dangerous at night.
Police and
all the security operatives in this area are said to be aware of the activities
of the killers along the road but they seem to be powerless. It was gathered
that the police are equally afraid of securing the place because no one wants
to die.
Another
resident in the area, an Okada rider who lamented the danger in riding along
the express late said he has decided not to be carrying passengers along the
road at night.
According to
our source, there exists a mangrove under the bridge which is littered with
human corpses under the bridge. According to our source, who visited the
mangrove when one of the residents was rescued by the vigilante group in the
community, many people have become victims of these assailants.
A mechanic
who has his shop along Obadare- Iyana-Iba road also said nobody in the area
would claimed that he doesn’t know the activities of armed robbers and ritual
killers on that road.
“There was one man they kidnapped recently and
when they kidnapped him, we went there it was then that we saw human skulls,
skeletons of human begins, fresh human blood, parts of bodies that littered in
the bush under the bridge,” one of the vigilantes told our correspondent.
“It was through the help of vigilante group
that rescued the boy, along the line they discovered many corpses there and
ever since then, the killings have been on the increase and is happening on
daily basis.”
The goons
are said to have adopted a new way of getting their victims. It was gathered
that what they alleged ritual killers do now was to lure unsuspecting members
of the society, especially passengers coming from Iba axis of the expressway to
enter their cab and on reaching at the bridge, they would summarily halted the
cab and pulled their victims out before dragging the person under the bridge
were they would decimate his parts before fleeing the scene of their crime.
As that wasn’t enough, the group are also
alleged to also disguised as passengers and on getting at the bridge, they
would roll tyres, woods, or sharp object or throw in empty buckets to the
high-speeding vehicles and immediately the drive applied his brake, to slow
down, the goons would jump to the bridge from the under and pounced on their
victims.
“What we
heard now is that if you are entering bus at Iyanoba, they will enter the bus
along with passengers and on reaching at the bridge there, they would ask the
driver to stop and if the driver stops, many of them will come out from under
the bridge and attack the passengers.”
Newswatch
Times gathered that last week, a particular passenger bus driver refused to
stop at the bridge when two of them inside the bus ordered him to stop but he
refused and they shoot the driver and the driver died on the steering while the
bus tumbled and falls outside the bridge, many passengers were confirmed dead
along with the driver, and before the police could come, they had fled away. A
Police source at Igando police division referred our correspondent to Ikeja
police command and said he was not authorised to make any comment.
The
residents of the community said they live in fears because of the incessant
killings, kidnappings and armed robbery activities in the area and called for
government and police protection, adding that they also live in Nigeria and pay
their taxes.
The
residents also quipped that they voted for President Muhammadu Buhari and
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and deserved to be protected by the
society they lived in so as to carry out their daily business and social
activities.
“So, since
then a lot have been happening. We need help and if you call police they don’t
come. They only time we see police around is when they come out to collect
money from bus drivers, Okada riders and tricycle operators.” Despite several
letters and petitions written by the Landlords and tenants’ Association nobody
or organisation or security agents have replied to their petitions or worked on
what they have been complaining about.
“Since
five-to six years now, we have been writing but nobody has paid attention to
our cries. Not even the police have even come to our rescue. We have written to
Ikotun-Igando LCDA, but we have not heard anything from the council”,
petitioners lamented.
The
residents complained that the actions of these goons usually starts from 8pm to
5am in the morning but that the pick hours are between 8’oclock in the evening
to 5am in the mornings.
“Anybody
coming from Igando to Iba or Iba to Igando, and your vehicle spoil there, that
is the end of that person. We need a permanent joint check-point at the bridge
including the soldiers. Let Inspector General of Police, assist us because this
case is above Divisional Police of these areas
“We need the
state government to also come to our rescue at the Obadare-Iba Bridge. The
armed robbery case is on daily basis and each morning we woke up, we hear of
robbery attack here and here. And gun shots are always heard on daily basis”,
the residents remarked.
In 2011, LASU-Iba-Igando
Bridge become very dangerous to travel as human hunters, ritual killers and
armed robbers took over the expressway for their nefarious activities.
Throughout that year, there were incidents of killings and armed robberies
along the road. The terror gangs usually throw logs of wood or planks at
motorcyclists who ply the road late at night especially between 7pm and 10pm,
forcing them to stop before carrying out their operations.
A LASU
student who operates the road on daily basis recounts a ritual killing that happened
at village bus stop immediately after LASU along LASU-Iba road in 2014 when he
was going home from school.
“I was in a
public bus at about 10.15pm, passengers in the bus including we saw a
motorcycle lying by the side of the road. The driver slowed down and we saw a
hefty man without shirt dragging the owner of the bike inside the bush. We
couldn't do anything because no one was armed,” she said.
“Meanwhile
there were some policemen on that road collecting money from each bus drivers
as they stopped. When we reached the first road block which was far from where
the incident was happening, we were telling the policemen was going on but they
abused us and asked us to go and arrest the killers.”
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