Since hoodlums started terrorising them at day and night, many of them no longer sleep peacefully in their homes – they watch and pray in the hope that ‘somebody’ would hear their cries.
The last few days have been some of the most dreadful for residents of Ijesha and Aguda areas of Lagos – two of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods.
Since hoodlums started terrorising them at day and night, many of them no longer sleep peacefully in their homes – they watch and pray in the hope that ‘somebody’ would hear their cries.
For instance, residents of Aguda had their hearts in the mouths between Thursday night and Friday morning when heavy shooting rent the air and hoodlums invaded houses to rob and kill residents.
A resident of the area named Esther told SaharaReporters that one person was killed within the neighbourhood by the hoodlums while another person had his hand severely damaged with machete.
“Somebody was killed,” she said. “Another person had his hand wounded by machete,” she added.
The young lady said Aguda had not been safe since that period and that they had been calling on the authorities for help without luck.
On Saturday, Samuel Salami, a resident of Ijesha, narrated how his friend, one Adewale Junaid, lost his father to the cruelty of the notorious One Million Boys, who had been terrorising the area for days.
He said, “While the nation mourns President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, my bosom friend, Adewale Junaid, lost his dad to the notorious One Million Boys at Ijesha, Lagos.
“The gang was on rampage on their street at about 7:00pm yesterday evening, they attacked anyone on their way with machete. My friend’s dad stumbled and fell to the ground due to old age and before he could stand up, he was caught and attacked with machete all over his body.
“He was rushed to Funto Hospital along Ijesha Road but unfortunately gave up the ghost early this morning due to the multiple machete cuts all over his body and head.
“One Million Boys’ nefarious activity is real. In case anyone is still in doubt and believe the news is speculation or false information as concluded by the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, and many others, it is real.
“Lagosians be on red alert, protect and guide yourself with all that you can and you have, those boys are real, they are mean and heartless.”
But despite these glaring and bitter testimonies from residents of both neighbourhoods in Lagos, spokesperson for the police in the state, Bala Elkana, denied that there were no robberies or gunshots but mere sounds of fireworks by youths guarding their communities during the ongoing movement restriction in the city to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
He said, “I am not aware of any incident in Aguda. Some of them are fireworks by those youth in the name of scaring people away.
“They are sending signal to those who intend to attack them that they are alert.”
Dismissing claims by the Lagos police spokesperson, a community leader in Aguda, Yomi Arogbonlo, said there was indeed heaving shooting in the area between Thursday and Friday.
“There was shooting, it started around in the afternoon and extended up to 2:30am on Friday,” he said.
A security consultant to communities in the LCDA disclosed that three persons were killed on Thursday.