A human rights activist and local leader, Musbau Agbodemu, is in critical condition in a Lagos hospital after some suspected cultists attacked him on Sunday afternoon with knives, bottles and guns.
The incident happened in the Ebute Meta area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Agbodemu was attacked by some hoodlums identified as Otto boys, while taking a nap in the home of Ifesowapo Community Development Association Chairman, Rasheed Liamid.
Liamid told our correspondent that the gang consisted of four men, adding that the men were on a mission to kill Agbodemu.
He said, “It was around 2pm. I was with a carpenter who was repairing the roof of my house when we saw some Otto boys from Jones Street running towards our direction.
“I asked the carpenter to come down because we didn’t know their mission. They were heavily armed with knives, guns and bottles.
“When they saw me, they said, ‘sir, continue with your work, we did not come for you, we are here for our enemy’.
“They began hitting the wall of my house where Agbodemu was sleeping because he had come on a visit.
“The noise woke him up and he came out to know those making the noise.”
He said immediately the hoodlums sighted Agbodemu, they swooped on him with the weapons.
Liamid added that after their gun malfunctioned, the hoodlums smashed some bottles on his head and also stabbed him with a knife in the bowel.
“When they saw that they had succeeded in their mission, they rushed out and left him in a pool of blood. I carried him with the assistance of one sympathizer and took him to a hospital around here,” he added.
A source, who pleaded anonymity, said the Otto boys wanted to kill Agbodemu in continuation of the crisis between them and the Ilogbo boys, a rival group.
The source told PUNCH Metro that the victim, however, had never taken side with any party since the fight started.
She said, “Nobody knows why they came for him because this is a man that has always preached peace in the community. He has never supported any side.”
Our correspondent gathered from another source that after the attack on Agbodemu, some Ilogbo boys started preparing for a showdown with the Otto boys for attacking a community leader.
The source said the Iponri Police Station had been alerted to the looming crisis.
“We have informed them that the Ilogbo boys are planning a reprisal. They are aggrieved that the Otto boys attacked a man who had nothing to do with the crisis,” the source said.
Another resident appealed to the government to quickly intervene in the crisis in the area as many people had already lost their lives. He added that the police were losing the battle to the hoodlums.
The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lelma Kolle, confirmed the incident.
He added that the police were already working to apprehend the attackers.
PUNCH
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