Residents Cry For Help As Hoodlums/Cultists Takes Over Ajah And Environs
One of the fall-outs of the recent lockdown imposed on the country to tame the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic is the rising insecurity, especially in megacities like Lagos. But after the easing of the lockdown in phases after four months of enforcement, the rising rate of insecurity in some parts of Lagos has not abated.
For instance, residents of Langbasa, Addo, and Badore in the Ajah area of Lagos have not been sleeping with their two eyes closed as criminals and cultists clash at will. The mortal attacks and counter-attacks by the hoodlums have heightened the fear of residents who could not carry out their lawful business in peace.
Despite daily raid and arrests by the Langbasa Police Division to rein in the criminals, it appears that the hoodlums are being reinforced by the defunct Badoo cult group in Ikorodu, which sources in the area hinted, come into Ajah via Ijede Badore and Oke-ira ferry terminals/waterways.
On several occasions, there have been sporadic gun battles between Langbasa Policemen and the hoodlums. Recently, a Police operational team led by one Inspector Sunday accosted a cult guy who killed one Oriyom Yusuf in Badore around Addo Roundabout. Security sources hinted that the police been on his trail before he met his waterloo after a tough exchange of gunfight with the Policemen.
Also recently, a criminal was lynched on Addo road after a successful robbery where he shot at a soldier to scare people who were hot on his heels. The gun scare however did not work as he eventually met his untimely death.
An eye witnesses around the scene confirmed that robbers and cultists now uses different schemes and guises to rob and kill their victims, adding that calendar dates like 7/7/2020 or 8/8/2020 are dates that are peculiar to cultists. These calendar dates, she said, are used as reprisal clash with their cult rivals and rob people of their valuables.
During the lockdown, it is common for robbers to invade homes, rob in the traffic during the day and night. Residents of Langbasa, Addo, and Badore Ajah area of Lagos, who have been at the receiving end of this lawlessness are pleading with the government to come to their rescue by supporting the Police with all necessary apparatus so as to enhance their operations in order to curb crime and criminalities within and around Ajah area.
At the height of the lockdown, the Police arrested 191 suspects in Lagos and Ogun, which along with the capital territory of Abuja are under a federally ordered lockdown that began on March 30. They also netted 15 locally-made guns, 52 live cartridges and 42 cutlasses and axes.
