At least four persons were reportedly murdered while sevearl others sustained varying degrees of injuries following a serious violence which erupted between warring groups said to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the Mosafejo, Oshodi-Isale area of Lagos State .
Also, about 15 commercial buses were razed, 12 others vandalized while some makeshift stalls in the Mosafejo Motor Park were torched in the unrest.
The incident was said to have started on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 rolled over till the next day, Wednesday, February 25, 2015.
The usually busy motor park was reportedly desolate as police officials and security agencies patrolled the area.
The scene was littered with broken bottles, shards of glass from shattered windscreens and pebbles, said to have been used as weapons by some of the hoodlums during the scuffle.
The blood stains from a man said to have been shot dead during the scuffle was visible at the Oshodi Roundabout.
Some teenagers were also reportedly taken away in a police van after the fight.
An anonymous source according to Punch said the clash which involved three groups namely ─ Big London boys, Railway boys and Under-bridge boys, broke out after the police ordered a stop in hemp smoking in the motor park.
The source said the Big London boys welcomed the idea while the Railway and Under-bridge gangs accused them of conniving with the police.
She said, “That was the beginning of the fight. The Railway boys and the Under-bridge boys usually conspire to wage war against the Big London boys which also had Olu Omo as a leading member.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), the allied gangs struck again and killed four people. One particularly was popular here and we call him Afari. A man was shot in the eye, another in the hand and leg. Several others are in critical conditions in hospitals.”
Confirming the incident, the state police spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu said, “There was an attempt to breach the peace at Oshodi. The hoodlums, who were rival members of the NURTW, engaged in a fight of supremacy over control of parks.
“In the process, about eight vehicles were burnt and 10 vandalised. One person was killed. Five cutlasses and four expended cartridges were recovered. Normalcy has been restored as adequate security has been made to avert any further breach of the peace.”
Nine persons have have been arrested in connection with the crime according to Nwosu.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, who inaugurated a five-man committee on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 to probe the immediate and remote causes of the fracas in the area.
He said, “We have been witnessing peace in Lagos State council of our union since my administration came in.
“We have restored peace in all our parks, so we shall find out the cause of the present problems in Oshodi, with a view to finding a lasting solution to them.”
