Ikorodu massacre: ‘Militants pasted posters before attack’

• Only six killed, says CP

Fresh facts emerged yesterday from Igbo-Olomu and Elepete communities in Ikorodu, Lagos State where militants killed about 30 residents, that the gunmen had pasted posters around the community that there would be candlelight procession to mark eighth day remembrance of their lost ‘soldiers’.

A resident said that the posters highlighted impending attack on the communities. This forced some of the residents to immediately leave the area. The resident, who gave his name simply as Segun, said: “The posters were not seen by all the residents, but those that got the information vacated the area on Wednesday.
They came shooting and killing any person on sight. Their targets were the landlords. They marched to landlord houses and killed them. I counted about six police Hilux vans fully loaded with bodies. Some other commercial vehicles also assisted in removing bodies which littered everywhere.”
Affected areas include Igbolomu and Ishawo communities in Ikorodu. Ogijo, where the bloody massacre took place, overlapped into Lagos- Ogun boundaries. The militants on Thursday and Friday swooped on the communities and killed about 30 residents.
A long stretch of bloodbath had ensured at Igbo-Olomu, Elepete, Ishawo, Imushin and Ogijo areas, leaving about 50 people dead in just one week. Police recently raided a hotel in Ikorodu and killed two militants. One of them was said to be the leader of the militants, identified as ‘Operator’.
In retaliation, the militants came through the waterways on Thursday around 11pm during the candlelight procession and started killing anyone in sight. Residents, private and commercial bus drivers were killed while vehicles’ windscreens were shattered.
Two weeks ago, some suspected Ijaw militants embarked on a killing spree in the communities, last Friday, another round of killings started, forcing residents to begin relocation from the volatile areas.
But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, yesterday debunked media reports that between 30 and 50 people were killed in the bloody attack. According to Owoseni, a manhunt for the fleeing killers has already commenced.
He said: “The DPO in Owutu went to Igbolomu and the surrounding communities and as of the time he got there, he saw everybody running in panic and it could be because of that immediate response the militants had fled the place.
While moving round, he later found six corpses of the people that were killed and the police took over those corpses out of which two were immediately released to their families who said they wanted to go and bury them according to Islamic rights. “We took the remaining four to the morgue.
That was how we covered that place until we got support and reinforcement from the Nigerian Army who came to stay with us. “I can confirm that the causality is six and no family till now has come out even while I was there to say that they have extra corpses aside from the ones that were recovered by the police in Owutu.”
The police boss expressed optimism that the militants would soon be apprehended. He said: “What people must know is that this is not an investigation or operation that you can just say one plus one. The guys are taking advantage of the creeks.
They hit and run to the creeks and also use the wee hours to carry out that operation. “Anywhere in the world, the military and police hardly operate in the night and so they have been taking advantage of that and that is why we have now emplaced a permanent standby point in all the four areas that we have identified as where they used to come from.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/ikorodu-massacre-militants-pasted-posters-attack/