Hoodlums vandalise 200 vehicles, injure residents in Lagos

No fewer than 200 vehicles were vandalised on Thursday, while a large number of residents were injured
after some hoodlums went on the rampage in the Ilupeju area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the hoodlums, who were said to be close to 100, went round seven streets where they committed the atrocity.
They stormed streets comprising Arolawun, Akorofayo, Church, Bode Thomas, Kayode, Awoyokun and Majolate.
Eyewitnesses said the gang members wielded guns, cutlasses, knives, bottles and other weapons.
Our correspondent, who visited the streets, reported that shattered windscreens littered the roads, adding that some residents bemoaned their losses.
Many shops and houses were locked as palpable tension enveloped the area.
An eyewitness on Bode Thomas Street, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reason, said the men created fear in the people as they shot sporadically into the air.
He said, “They were many. It was like a war. They divided themselves into two and came from both sides of the street.
“They came with guns, cutlasses and bottles. They also shot into the air as people ran helter-skelter.”
Another resident, Kafayat Olubamowo, explained that the hoodlums had first toured the area before striking at 10.30am.
“They first came at 9am and moved round. They returned at 10am and also moved round and left. At about 10.30am, they came again and started destroying vehicles,” he said.
A businessman, who did not identify himself, told our correspondent that his golf car was damaged.
He said, “They broke the vehicle’s windscreen and left me in debt.”
The Chairman of taxi drivers in Onipanu, Akanji Shobakin, lamented that many taxi drivers in the area were affected by the incident.
“About three months ago, they did the same thing. We are fed up,” he added.
Our correspondent visited a barbing salon, where the hoodlums stabbed a resident in the hand.
A witness said, “After breaking the glass door of the salon, they entered and stabbed one of us in the hand. He has been taken to hospital for treatment.”
The iron gate of a house in one of the streets was also broken down.
A resident said the hoodlums entered the building to unleash mayhem on the tenants in the house.
The police were said to have been alerted while the raid lasted, but reportedly did not come.
One of the community leaders told PUNCH Metro that they reported at the Ilupeju Police Division, and the policemen promised to come, but did not.
“They later asked us to go to the State Department of Criminal Investigation at Yaba.
“When we got to the place, the policemen there said they were operating under the state government and that Ilupeju policemen were supposed to handle the case,” he said.
A resident, Victor Idris, said the clash was a supremacy battle.
He said the area had been under siege for more than seven years, adding that the leaders of the groups were sponsored by politicians.
He said, “This fight is between the Tollgate boys and Toba’s boys. Our politicians know these people, but they have refused to get them arrested. These hoodlums use their clashes to commit crimes. They have stolen my car battery more than four times.”
A resident, Adamu Isiaka, said the destruction of vehicles started around 3am, when some of Toba’s boys allegedly invaded Arolawun and Church streets on Thursday.
He said the hoodlums damaged no fewer than 90 vehicles on the two streets.
“Toba’s boys were led by Eyima and Baba Obo. After they destroyed the vehicles, they retreated into their hideouts.
“The Tollgate boys, around 7am, mobilised to fight back. But they met resistance from policemen from the Alakara division who opened fire on them. One of them from Church Street was shot in the leg.
“Later, Toba’s boys, who learnt that the Tollgate boys were looking for them, came out. They went round more streets and destroyed more vehicles.”
When contacted on the telephone, Toba denied the allegation of instigating hoodlums to fight, adding that he was in Abuja for a ceremony.
He said, “I am not even aware that anything happened until you called me. I don’t know about all the gang fights. I am no longer a union leader and I don’t do politics. As I speak with you now, I am not in Lagos.
“My house is in Ereko in Fadeyi, and look at the distance of my house to where they say they are fighting. How could I have been involved in the fight?
“Those fighting are the Tollgate and the Onipanu boys,” he said.
His lawyer, O. Ajanaku, in a separate chat with PUNCH Metro, said Toba was a victim of some haters in the community.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Some miscreants attempted to breach the public peace this morning.
“They were able to damage a few cars on the road. But efforts are on to apprehend them.”