- We don’t know what militants want –Community leader
On this particular day, July 5, 2016, our correspondent paid a visit to Ishefun community. The community that used to bustle with social and commercial activities was like a graveyard.
The back view of a lady was sighted. She was outside her house, washing clothes. The correspondent made a beeline for her. Immediately she heard footsteps, she became tensed and alert.
She turned swiftly, saw the journalist and bolted into her room. She thought he was a kidnapper. Before she could lock the door, the journalist shouted that he was just a reporter.
The door slowly opened. The peeping eyes looked frightened and unsure. She perhaps realised that there was nowhere to run or hide. She reluctantly came out of the room.
Without being asked, the journalist presented his Identity card. She peered at the card and her tensed posture visibly relaxed. The apprehensive and suspicious attitude of the lady; reflects those of other residents in Ishefun Community. The lady, who absolutely refused to give her name, said, some men, believed to be militants, have laid siege to the community. These men, she said, used to storm the community and kidnap people. These militants used to come at night to abduct victims.
According to her, many residents have fled the community, to stay with friends or relatives. The scared residents only brave the community during the datime to pick change of clothings. She further said: “Please, pardon me for my behaviour. It was due to the recent abductions of my neighbours. So many people have left their homes.
Nobody wants to be abducted or killed. I only came to pick some of our clothes, wash the dirty ones and leave again. Many residents said they wouldn’t return to their homes until normalcy returns to our communities. We come in the morning, change clothes and leave again. Ishefun Community is not the only one experiencing this scare.
Many citizens of Lagos and Ogun states, living around coastal areas, have horrifying stories of killings, abductions and shootings to tell. In Ikorodu, where militants have held residents by the jugular, policemen who built houses in those areas are now being targeted. Some of the policemen have fled, abandoning their buildings.
They relocated their families. The vandals have also moved up to Igando areas in Lagos State. The Officer in Charge of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikorodu, has been receiving threatening calls and text messages from some militants.
They accused him of revealing their identities and modus operandi to other members of the Nigeria Police Force. A police source said: “These militants are now targeting SARS men.
They are targeting policemen for doing their jobs. Police houses in Isawu and Igando areas are also now being tar- geted. At least five buildings, belonging to policemen have been burnt down by the militants. A lot of policemen built houses in Ikorodu. Right now, a particular police sergeant, living at Igando is their target. They sent messages to him, telling him that they know him and his family.
He relocated his family. They still sent messages to him, saying they knew he had relocated his family. They mentioned the name of his son’s school and where his wife trades.
They told him the make of his car and the number plate. He eventually abandoned his car, so that they wouldn’t trail his car and kill him. He started using motorbike.
They sent message to him; they knew he had started using motorbike to go to work. They accused him of giving information to policemen at Igando on their activities.
The militants are waging war against policemen!” It was because of the increasing killings, abductions and attacks by militants, believed to be pipeline vandals, that law enforcement agencies declared war on militants in Lagos and Ogun states. On June 30, 2016, Idris deployed a Tactical Operation Unit, comprising the Police Mobile Force, the Counter-Terrorism Unit with the back-up of an Air Surveillance Team to flush out the vandals and other criminal elements operating in Arepo and Ibafo areas of Ogun State.
According to Idris, the deployment of the Unit to Arepo/Ibafo was to ensure that normalcy returns to the areas in record time. The policemen were complemented by other security agents drawn from Army, Navy and Air Force. Idris added: “The Nigeria Police Force will not watch any criminal group or groups take law into their hands.” He therefore authorised the Unit to deal decisively with anyone who constitutes himself as an enemy of the State. It would be recalled that Arepo and Ibafo in Ogun State and other areas in Ikorodu, Lagos State, have been taken over by militants, otherwise perceived to be pipeline vandals. These men have killed several law enforcement agents. In June, areas like Igbolomu, Ogijo and Ishawo communities in Ikorodu, Lagos State, were under the strangulating hold of Ijaw militants. The militants, angry because the police dared to arrest some of their members and killed two, unleashed hell in some communities. They embarked on a killing spree; shooting at anything that moved. By the time the dust has settled, more than 30 had been killed and many injured. Survivors fled, abandoning their property. The deployment of security agents into the affected communities was aimed at dislodging the suspected militants. Some of the militants, who were partially dislodge by the security agencies from Arepo, Igboolumu, Elepete, Ibafo and Imushin area, on July 3, 2016, struck at Ijan and Ishefun communities, Ipaja Ayobo, Local Council Development Area. They kidnapped a mother, Mrs. Ogunyemi and her three children. In a swift response to the abductions, policemen attached to Ayobo Police Station, pursued and rescued the victims. Recalling how the mother and children were rescued, a resident said: “The woman’s house is close to the water. The kidnappers first picked her three children and ordered her to enter their boat. Some residents, who sighted them, quickly alerted Ayobo Police Station. When policemen came, they got a boat and went after them. The kidnappers jumped into water, leaving the woman and her three children.” The Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who visited the community after the abortive abduction, vowed to arrest the fleeing suspects. He said: “The kidnappers, who came through the waterway, were trying to escape with their victims when our men engaged them in gun battle. The gun duel lasted for a while. The kidnappers were later subdued by the superior shooting power of the police.” Mr. Oluwaseun Ogunyemi, husband of the kidnapped woman and children, said: “I don’t know why my family was the target of the kidnappers. I went outside to urinate. Immediately I turned, I saw three men holding guns. They threatened to shoot me if I shout. I don’t know how I was able to escape from the kidnappers. My family members were not that lucky. They were abducted, but later rescued by the police.” Before the kidnapping of Mrs. Ogunyemi and her kids, the militants had earlier shot and killed a Mobile Policeman, Yusuf Hadi, attached to Mopol 43, Totowu Waterways. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmos, said Hadi was on his way to his base, when he was shot by the militant on the waterways. When our correspondents visited Ishefun and Ijan communities last week Tuesday, there was palpable tension in the air. Many of the residents have moved out of their houses over fear of likely attack or becoming victims of abduction. A neighbour of the kidnapped victims, who doesn’t want her name in print, said: “My family and I were in our apartment when the kidnappers came. On that fateful day, I was inside my room. I watched them through the windows. They came through the waterways, close to the victims’ house. They ordered them into their waiting speed boat. The kidnappers first took the children. Their mother begged them to spare her kids. But they didn’t listen to her.” The Baale of Ijan, Chief Ade Kolawole, said: “On July, 3, I was somewhere at Ikeja, when I received a phone call that some gunmen were shooting in the community. When I received the call, I immediately called the Divisional Police Officer of Ayobo (DPO) and the Area M Commander. They all raced to the scene. “When the policemen got to the community, they exchanged gunfire with the kidnappers. These militants have taken over riverine areas of Ishefun, Totowu, Akesan, Egan, Suti and Imoshe. We don’t know these militants. They just invaded our communities. The militants were armed with sophisticated weapons.” According to Kolawole, the communities is now making plans to provide a building for Marine Police, where they could use as base to guard the communities and watch out for militants. The Baale of Ishefun Community, Chief Aminu Oke said: “We have heard about the exploits of these militants in other areas. But we were shocked when they came to our community. I don’t understand what they want from poor families in these communities.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/ran-away-homes-militants/
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