No fewer than 40 cars were destroyed by suspected hoodlums on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 in Mile 12 area of Lagos during a fight between two cult groups known as Eiye boys and OPC members.
During the course of the fight, a member of one of the warring group threatened to kill a resident who is a military officer, for taking a correspondent round to see the extent of the damages caused by the said attack.
He said, “I will personally lead the squad that will terminate you. We will butcher you. Did I damage your car? I don’t live in this place. I stay at Ikorodu, so don’t think anyone can lay hand on me.”
As the two cult group neared a face off, three soldiers appeared with a policeman, on sighting the police man, the rampaging hoodlums took to their heels as excited and relieved residents came out of their houses to speak to the correspondent about the ongoing cult attacks in the area.
A source who pleaded anonymity revealed that residents had suffered severe losses due to cult clashes in the area.
“The military man taking you round had had his two cars damaged during one of the clashes just few weeks back. He decided to bear the cost of repair after people pleaded with him.
“But the one that happened on Monday night and Tuesday morning was terrible. The Eiye cult members came to Oniyanrin and Obanta streets on a reprisal and damaged over 40 vehicles. We heard the OPC members started the fight at Idera in Ikorodu during a party and the Eiye boys came here to retaliate,” the source added.
One of the residents whose car was vandalised, Mrs Bimpe Sote, said she did not know her car had been wrecked by the hoodlums until she sent her driver to do something for her.
She said, “Those of us in this community usually park our vehicles on the sides of the roads. There is no access road into the community. We only have a pedestrian bridge.
“I woke up on Tuesday morning and asked my driver to get something for me. That was when I heard that my vehicle had been vandalised. The hoodlums also took the battery away.”
Another resident, who also had his car windscreens destroyed during the raid, said while the destruction was going on that he called the state’s emergency numbers.
“It was after the damage had been done that they called back, apologising that the Rapid Response Squad could not make it,” he added.
Segun Oladimeji, A commercial bus driver, said he had not been able to fend for his family because he could not raise enough money needed to fix his damaged bus.
A man whose two cars were destroyed, called on the police to provide adequate protection to the residents, adding that they were helpless because those who usually carry out the said crime were not residents of the area.
He said, “This madness has stop. We cannot continue to live in fear in our own area. We are not the ones fighting them, so why should they smash our vehicles and steal our property?”
However, the case was said to have been reported by one of the resident at the Ketu Police Station.
Meanwhile, efforts to contact the police public relations officer, Lagos State Command, Ngozi Braide, was unsuccessful.
