Pandemonium as cultists hack man to death

There was pandemonium in a community market on Johnson Street, Somolu, Lagos State, on Wednesday as some suspected cultists shot and hacked to death a 22-year-old resident, identified only as Ahmed, aka Bobo.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the killers were suspected members of the Aiye Confraternity.

A trader, Tawakalitu Omosebi, told our correspondent on Friday during a visit to the market that Ahmed was trailed to the area by a three-man gang.

She said, “It was around 8.30pm on Wednesday when those men stormed the market. They have been coming here for some time. On that day, they met him at a lotto kiosk. He was trying to check the result and he was alone.

“When he realised that he had been surrounded, he tried to escape, but they trapped him. They first shot him in the chest before they started hacking him with cutlass. They later left, fearing that his friends might show up.”

Omosebi told our correspondent that the gang also attacked some of the traders and dispossessed customers of phones and money when they were leaving.

She said some minutes after the cultists left, Ahmed’s friends came and took him to a private hospital in the area.

“When they took him to the private hospital, the management of the hospital asked them to produce a police report, but since they were also cultists, they were afraid and that was how he died. It took about 30 mintues before he finally gave up,” she added.

Findings by PUNCH Metro showed there had been a series of cult clashes between some Eiye gang members on Johnson Street and their rivals in Aiye confraternity from Kusa Street, a neighbouring community.

A source in the area told our correspondent that Ahmed was killed as a reprisal for an earlier attack he allegedly led.

He said, “A few days earlier, Ahmed led an attack on Kusa Street and attacked a rival cult member. He thought the man was dead, but the man’s friends rushed him to the hospital and he survived. Those people now mobilised and killed him on Wednesday.”

Investigations further revealed that Ahmed was shot by a teenage gangster, identified only as Ibrahim, aka Elede.

A resident, Kola Oyedapo, explained to PUNCH Metro that Elede had been responsible for some deaths in the area in recent times.

When our correspondent approached the owner of the lotto kiosk where Ahmed was reportedly killed, he declined comment, saying he was not around at the time of the incident.

A resident, who was scanning through a printed paper, queried our correspondent on his interest in reporting the incident.

“Why do you want to report it? You should just leave the matter to rest,” he said.

Meanwhile, some traders in the market have lamented the spate of cult attacks in the street, pleading with the government to intervene.

A vegetable seller, Ibukun Matthew, said, “We have been living in fear here. Some parents are even too scared to send their children to the market because of the rate at which these cultists strike. Anything can happen at any time.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident, adding that the corpse of the deceased had been deposited in the mortuary.

He said, “At about 8.30pm, two cult groups engaged one another in a rivalry clash at Johnson Street, Pedro, and in the process, a yet-to-be-identified male, suspected to be a member of one of the groups lost his life. Corpse has been deposited at the Gbagada General Hospital Morgue for autopsy.”http://www.punchng.com/metro-plus/pandemonium-as-cultists-hack-man-to-death/