Police shoot three as residents lynch suspected Badoo member

Residents of Ikorodu area of Lagos State, who have become suspicious of strangers in their communities following escalating cases of ritual killings perpetuated by Badoo group, yesterday set a man on fire.

The police, while attempting to disperse the angry mob and rescued the suspected Badoo member, police shot sporadically into the air. The bullets hit three people, further infuriating residents.

The crisis, which broke out at Oni-Ogunsanya Street, near the community mosque, at the Aga area of Ikorodu, started after local vigilante group caught the suspect at the wee hours of the morning. They allegedly refused to release to the police.
The suspected ritual killer, identified as Vincent Onama, was caught around 2am by members of the local vigilante group, Onyabo, while allegedly trying to dispossess a cyclist of his motorbike.
After the vigilant group grabbed him, he was  quizzed and locked up.
When it was day time, the vigilante men unlocked the room and discovered that the suspect had allegedly applied black oil on his body and was attempting to escape through the window. The  tactic, it was alleged, is one that the Badoo group used to deploy.
However, nobody could explain how the suspect, who was locked up in a room all alone, got hold of black oil.
When the vigilante saw that the suspect had bathed himself with oil, they became sure he was a member of Badoo. Alarm was raised and other members of the community gathered.
A resident said: “ We wouldn't ordinarily have killed him but we were provoked by the police. Initially, the people were questioning him. It was after the policemen fired shots and hit three people that the mob brought the suspect our and set him on fire."

The Ikorodu Ambassadors' Coordinator, Rasheed Fatuga said: "When he was caught by some members of Onyabo, he was locked up in an apartment for further interrogation. To their greatest amazement, the culprit had made an attempt to escape through the window by rubbing his body with black oil. He was seen, trying to force himself out through the burglary of the window.

"With the foregoing, it was affirmed that he was one of the dreaded group. Their modus operandi is usually to seek after their target and brutally murder them. Whenever they are caught, they usually rub oil on their body to grant them escape route. In this case, the angry crowd refused to release the culprit to the security operatives because of their antecedent."
According to him, whenever such suspects are handed over to security operatives, they would be released.
Fatuga added: “While the security operatives were trying to gain entrance into the scene, there were sporadic shootings, which got three victims wounded and one had quickly been rushed to hospital. This triggered the angry crowd to forcefully bring the suspect out and burn. We call on the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi and other royal fathers to rise up and save the division from its current ugly and bad name."
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, who visited the scene, sued for peace.
He appealed to the people to avoid mob justice, assuring them that he was personally leading investigations into the ongoing insecurity in Ikorodu.
Owoseni, who also promised that members of Badoo gang and their sponsors would soon be apprehended, urged the residents to report any corrupt police officer to him.

The killing of the suspected Badoo member came barely a week after a family of four was attacked. The father of the house and his son were killed; the pregnant woman of the house, was killed and her foetus removed and taken. The only survivor is the family’s daughter.

A few weeks ago, four men, who were later discovered to be land speculators, were also lynched at Ikorodu by residents who suspected them of being members of Badoo group.

A resident of Ibeshe, one of the areas worst hit by this crime said simply identified as Ajoke said: “ Before, they used to target single mothers, but have now graduated to killing entire family members. They used to sneak into homes, rape single female parents and use white handkerchiefs to wipe their private parts. They have killed many women and children.”

The continuous rampage of Badoo ritual killing gang has led to residents being suspicious of everyone.