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/
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