Residents of Abule Ijesha community, Yaba, Lagos
State, say the neighbourhood is not safe until the police arrest hoodlums who
killed a senior member of staff of the University of Lagos, Akoka, and a final
year student of the institution.
They claimed that the mastermind of the crime was
a drug dealer known to the police and demanded that he and his accomplices be
apprehended and prosecuted.
The victims, Akintunde Fadugba, of Centre for
Information and Technology System, UNILAG, and the 400-level student, Rasaq
Akokia, were shot dead on Opayemi Street, Abule Ijesha.
Latest Reality Metro learnt that the
hoodlums, numbering six and reportedly led by the drug dealer had stormed the
community around 11pm on Friday on motorcycles and shot indiscriminately.
Fadugba, who was said to be relaxing in front of
a barber’s – a stone’s throw from his residence – was shot and died on the
spot.
It was learnt that Akokia was ill and had gone to
buy drugs from a chemist on the street.
He was returning home when a bullet hit him in
the chest.
Our correspondent, who visited the community on
Tuesday, observed that residents were still in panic as many of them declined
to speak on the incident.
However, an eyewitness, Sunday Ebah, said he was
at a restaurant on Opayemi Street when the hoodlums struck.
He said, “I was with a food vendor around 11pm
when I saw three motorcycles. While they were approaching a church, they put
off the light of the motorcycle. Two persons were reportedly on each
motorcycle.
“Two men came down and one of them, a tall guy,
started shooting. The drug dealer was directing him.
“When I saw them, I ran to Martins Street. Two
men faced Martins Street, while two others headed towards Odenike Street,
shooting.
“The UNILAG worker was outside a barber’s when he
was shot. They saw the light of a pickup truck arriving in the community and
fled. They thought it was a police van.
“As they were leaving through Fatai Kadri Street,
Rasaq (Akokia), who had been hiding, thought they had gone. As he came out from
hiding, they shot him and he fell into the gutter. He was a final year student
at UNILAG.”
The food vendor, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, confirmed Ebah’s account, adding that she abandoned her food and
scampered to safety.
She said, “I was selling amala to a
customer when I suddenly heard gunshots. I abandoned my wares and ran away. The
hoodlums collected a phone from one of my customers. Rasaq (Akokia) was ill and
had bought drugs on Opayemi Street. He lived alone.”
The food seller’s husband, who was shot in the
hand, Lateef Olalekan, said he escaped death by a whisker.
He said, “I was at Odenike Junction when I heard
gunshots. I initially thought it was fireworks. I was rushing to alert my wife
who sells food on Opayemi Street when two hoodlums came down from a motorcycle.
One of them shot at me. The bullet grazed my hand and shattered the windscreen
of a car parked by the roadside.”
A bread seller, who did not want her name in
print, told our
correspondent that she was attending to a customer when the attack
broke out.
“My customers and I hid in my shop. The attackers
were shouting ‘where are you?’
“After they left, somebody raised the alarm that
they had killed a man. His corpse was brought to the junction and after some
minutes, Rasaq’s corpse was found inside a drainage channel,” she added.
When our correspondent visited Fadugba’s
residence, it was learnt that his family members did not live with him, while
residents of a bungalow, where Akokia lived, had gone to work.
A community leader, Mr. Omolaja Johnson, said the
drug dealer had been unleashing terrors on the community since 2016 when he was
sent out of the community.
He said the mastermind had used some policemen to
harass residents, adding that a petition was sent to the Zone 2 Police Command,
Onikan, against the policemen and the hoodlums.
He said, “The community sent him away because he
sold all sorts of hard drugs. When we met with the AIG, Zone 2, the policemen
he used were dealt with. Everything went well until on March 9 around 11pm when
the community was attacked and two persons were killed. “That day, I slept
early. I heard gunshots, but thought it was policemen shooting into the air.
About 15 minutes later, a neighbour called me and said two persons had been
killed. I rushed to the scene of the crime and met the corpses. I called the
Sabo Divisional Police Officer who came to take away the corpses.”
The Chief Security Officer of the community, Mr.
Paul Ebite, said, “We want the police to immediately apprehend the hoodlums;
without that, the attack will continue. The community is still in fear. We
appeal to the AIG Zone 2 and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to ensure
that these hoodlums are apprehended.”
The spokesperson for the police in Lagos, SP
Chike Oti, said the command had launched a manhunt for the hoodlums.
He said, “There were four individuals who were
known for negatively influencing children and youths in that community. They
had issues with the community and they were chased away. They regrouped
and unleashed mayhem on the community, years after they were sent out. They
killed a university worker and a student. The command is investigating and
effort is ongoing to arrest the criminal fugitives.”
The spokesperson for UNILAG, Mrs. Taiwo Oloyede,
confirmed Fadugba’s death, but said she was not aware a student was also
killed.
She said, “Mr. Fadugba was shot on Friday and we
lost him. He was a senior non-teaching staff member of the Centre for
Information and Technology System. He will be buried this week. I am not sure
we lost any student, but I will confirm and get back to you.”
She had yet to get back to our correspondent as
of press time.
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