Gun battles, killings have forced us to flee our homes – Residents of Lagos suburb

Gun battles, killings have forced us to flee our homes

Residents of Ilaje community, a Lagos suburb beside Ajah on the Lekki-Epe Expressway have enjoyed peace for many years.

But all that changed recently when a communal conflict, which started in 2011 between them and landowners in the area, upturned their quiet life.

Ilaje, which was so named because the residents are made up largely of indigenes of the Ilaje tribe – a riverside area in Ondo State – has seen a lot of violence since the conflict began.

In July 2012, some gun-wielding hoodlums, whom the residents suspected were sponsored by those who coveted their lands, invaded the town.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the police were called in and the hoodlums dispersed. But by the time the dust settled, 55-year-old Augustus Oronla was lying on the street, shot dead.

According to residents, the hoodlums destroyed property and shot sporadically when they got to the community. Many counted themselves lucky at the time.

Since that attack took place, at least three other shooting incidents have taken place in Ilaje, which set the community permanently on edge.

In November 2012, four months after Oronla was shot dead. Another attack took place in Ilaje.

This time, many of the residents lost their property as the invading hoodlums did not just shoot sporadically; they set many houses on fire.

When our correspondent visited Ilaje on Tuesday, a whole section of the community seemed to have become a ghost town as those who lost their houses to the arsonists simply abandoned them.

Seyi Olatuga, whose mother’s house was burnt down in the attack, lamented how life had changed tremendously for her mother since the incident.

“My mother went for an event and did not sleep at home that day. She was coming back the following morning when she learnt that there was mayhem in Ilaje.

“She had to run elsewhere for safety. But by the time she got home, many houses had been burnt down, including her own. I was not at home at the time and I thank God she was not at home as well. Things have really been hard for her since the house was burnt down. It has really affected her life,” Olatuga said.

During the attack, the hoodlums fled after the police intervention, but not until they had killed a young man, Martin Edgar.

The deceased was said to have been shot while helping a neighbour to quench the fire set to his house.

There was another attack in 2012 during which six members of the community were said to have been shot.

A community leader told our correspondent that one of the six victims is still in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, battling with the complications that arose from the gunshot injury he sustained.

Six months after that mayhem, which claimed the life of Edgar, and when the hoodlums thought the residents of Ilaje were becoming too comfortable again, they struck.

On May 25, 2013, three youths from Ilaje were shot dead in an attack on a football field in the area.

Eight others were injured in the attack, one of them critically.

The young man that was critically injured is 28-year-old Oke Oronla, whose father was shot dead in July 2012.

Unfortunately, when our correspondent visited the community on Tuesday, the residents said the younger Oronla died the day before because the gunshot injury he sustained could not be managed.

The home of the Oronlas was deserted when our correspondent visited the community. The house was locked.

A neighbour of the Oronlas, Sojue Awolowo, told our correspondent that all the residents of the house had packed out after the incessant attacks claimed father and son.

Our correspondent observed that belongings were also being moved out of Awolowo’s house and loaded in a waiting vehicle.

When our correspondent asked if he was moving out, Awolowo said, “I’m not going anywhere but my wife has to leave this community right now. She is not safe here. My children have already moved out. I will stay but I need my family to be away from these incessant killings.

“My neighbour lost his life to the attacks by these hoodlums and now his son has been killed. His poor widow had not got over the killing of her husband when she lost her son too. It is a very terrible thing.”

Many men in the community seemed to have adopted the method of staying behind while sending their families out.

Like Awolowo, Sunday Adesuyi said he had also relocated his family.

He said, “If there is any problem and I need to run, at least it will be only me. You really need to understand why people are leaving. It is because anytime there is an attack, the same people will be seen a few days later around Ajah, walking freely. That makes people afraid.

“It is not that people around here love to abandon their homes, it is because when arrests are made, a few days later, those responsible for the violence are set free. We are citizens of this country; we are entitled to government protection.”

When our correspondent moved around the community, it became clear that a lot of people had moved out or were in the process of fleeing.

In the midst of all this, a woman and her unclad six children sat in front of their house, looking dejected.

Our correspondent asked if she intended to move out for the safety of her children.

The woman, Elizabeth Emeka, said, “I really want to leave because I am afraid. Everybody is packing out but I cannot. Where will I pack to?

“Of course I fear for the lives of my children in the midst of all this violence, but I cannot just pack and go. Where will I go?”

There are a lot of Ghanaians in Ilaje as well, most of whom are engaged in petty trading.

Some of them told Saturday PUNCH that they would leave as well.

“I cannot stay here with the hope of making a living and losing my life in the process,” one of the Ghanaians told our correspondent.

Another Ghanaian, Emmanuel Ocran, said, “I have been living here for two years now. But it has reached a point that I can no longer stay here.

“I’m leaving to go and stay temporarily with a friend. Things have become too violent for my liking here. My house rent is not even due yet, but since others are leaving, I have to leave as well.

“I actually thought I could withstand the crisis but this latest one has given me a rethink. I need to get out of this vicinity.”

Our correspondent learnt that much of those who populate Ilaje were residents of Maroko area of Lagos, who were displaced after the military government of Brig-Gen. Raji Rasaki (retd.) demolished their homes in 1990.

They are mostly fishermen. The women engage in petty trading.

But the sense of community, which the residents said drew their kinsmen to the area, has been compromised by violence.

Even though some of the residents are hurriedly leaving the area, some of them believe leaving would only achieve the aim of the perpetrators of the violence.

Pastor Oluwole Adejimi said his father settled in the area in 1984.

Adejimi, who is now a landlord in the community, said he could not blame those leaving.

He said, “I’m staying in order to encourage people to stay. If I leave, a lot of people who were encouraged by my presence will pack and go as well.

“I’m a priest, so, I believe God is my protection. If the violence becomes unbearable, I’m going to leave as well. But at the moment, I’m staying.”

Spokesperson for the community, Rev. Oduwole Oluwasegun, said there had been reports stating that the crisis in the community had to do with toll collection at a motor park.

He said, “That is totally wrong. We have nothing to do with any motor park. This problem started with the only major road in Ilaje. Because of our proximity to the sea, some sand dredgers have been doing business here.

“Since this road is the only one their tippers ply and needs repairs regularly, the community decided to collect tolls from the dredgers. We started with N200 and increased it to N400.

“We later got a letter from Odugbese Aberioje family, the landowners from whom we bought our lands legally, ordering the community to stop collecting the toll.”

Our correspondent learnt that an arrangement was made between the community and the family but the landowners were not satisfied.

A police source told our correspondent that the head of the family, Chief Muka Aberioje, was at a time arrested in connection with the violent attacks in Ilaje.

On Sunday, the Lagos State Police Command arrested the Olumegbon of Ajah, Fatai Lawal, in connection with Saturday’s attack.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the Olumegbon was alleged to be harbouring some of the youths involved in Saturday’s attack. But he was released the same day.

Oluwasegun said, “No one can really say how the clash on the football field on Saturday started. The report we got was that the fight was between Ajah youths and some of the boys of the Olumegbon. It was about 10 am.

“We just heard some gunshots and by the time the shooters fled, David Okon, Ahmed Yusuf and Timothy Amos lay dead in the area.

“We cannot be driven out of these plots of land because we bought them legally and have documents to back the transaction up. The government is keeping quiet about the crisis here and this is not making us happy at all.”

But the police spokesperson in the state, Ngozi Braide, has said the residents had no reason to flee the community.

Braide said, “Right now, security has been beefed up around the community; this you can attest to yourself. A number of patrol vans are stationed there at the moment.

“The Ilaje people were not the only ones who lost people in the clash. Even the Olumegbon lost three people while the Ajah people lost some. There is no way the people will call on the police and they will not respond.

“They have no reason to exercise any fear because even undercover agents are currently in the community.”

As at Tuesday when our correspondent visited Ilaje, there were at least four police patrol vans stationed in different parts of the community, but this did not seem to be putting the minds of the residents at rest.
PUNCH