Three killed as thugs clash in Lagos

Three people were killed at the Ojora area of Ijora, Lagos State yesterday after some after some suspected hoodlums went on the rampage.

It was gathered that the protracted crisis between street urchins in the areas, started on Sunday and continued yesterday. A resident said that the fight started during a night party.

The crisis stated around 3am, as the party was on full swing. A resident of Orisumbare, identified as Saheed Jimoh, was attacked and hacked to death.

In a reprisal attack, some hoodlums from Orisumbare, after learning of Jimoh’s death, went to Ojora yesterday and killed another resident, identified as Hammed Atobatele.

The hoodlums yesterday, vandalized vehicles and chased people with weapons. Many of the residents were forced to stay indoors.

In the ensuing violence, operatives attached to the OP MESA were alerted. They raced to the scene and shot sporadically into the air to disperse the thugs.

As the hoodlums were pursued to Orisumbare, a resident, whose name had yet to be known, was caught up in the commotion and tried to escape into a swamp. It was learnt that he, however, drowned.

An eyewitness, Samuel, said the corpse of the victim from Orisumbare had been taken away by his parents for burial.

The secretary of the Apapa Iganmu Community Development Committee, Kehinde Omonisi, who tried to mediate among the hoodlums, was hit with a charm during the rampage, and his ears started bleeding.

Omonisi said that the communities had decided, in a meeting held on Monday, to hand over any hoodlum found to the police.

The chairman of Orisumbare Community Development Association, Mudasiru Owolabi, said the police had invited both areas to a peace meeting, adding that they would assist police to rid the place of hoodlums.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed that there was violence, adding that the police picked up only one corpse. He said normalcy had been restored while the area was also being monitored.