Lagos Most Dangerous Abandoned Building (17 Storey Building)

RECENTLY, a security man, Moshood Afolabi, was found dead in a 17- storey building after he was declared missing by the family. Earlier, the family had reported his mysterious disappearance to a local vigilante group where he works at Oto-Awori local government development council after four days of waiting for him to return from his usual night watch.

The remains of Afolabi was found in the uncompleted and abandoned building in Oto-Awori after four days’ fruitless efforts by members of his family to locate his whereabouts.  Crime Alert learnt that the leader of the vigilante group where he works had alerted both the police and other security agencies after which they started combing the area.

Their efforts paid off later when information got to the group that the body of Mr Moshood was found in an uncompleted building and they went to confirm the shocking discovery. His remains was taken to an undisclosed mortuary for further investigation.

Return from duty post

When Crime Alert visited the wife of the deceased, Raimot Afolabi, the mother of four narrated how she informed the vigilante group when her late husband didn’t return from his duty post. She lamented: “I went to report to Baba Saka who is the leader of the group my husband worked with that he had not returned home for two days after he went to his normal duty post. He was surprised but raised an alarm and ordered his boys to carry out a thorough search.   His body was found in that 17-storey buidling.  That monstrous house killed my husband.”

When cornered, Saka, the leader of the vigilante group, told Crime Alert: “When the wife reported that her husband had not returned for two days, I commanded a search within the neighbourhood and on the second day, we received a call from an undisclosed person who told us that a body was found in the building. We quickly rushed to see if the body was that of a familiar person. When we got there, we recognized the body to be that of late Moshood. We then deposited his remains in a mortuary for further investigation.”

Investigations by Crime Alert revealed that the abandoned building has been a notorious hideout for criminals in the area. Residents of the area who pleaded not to be named  for fear of their lives hinted that criminals normally share their loot inside the uncompleted building.

Some of them said that a lot of criminal activities had been happening in that building with boys of different shades and characters seen coming in and going out of the place. One of them said: “We have also been hearing gun shots from the place. It is amazing that security agents have not cared to raid the place and clean it up. It is a haven for armed robbers and ritualists.”

A community leader in the area, Alhaji Daura also told Crime Alert that the building has a very bad record in terms of crime. He said: “I remember when I came into Lagos for the first time, that was when members of Odu’a Peoples Congress, OPC, arrested people they suspected to be criminals.

An officer that was attached to the community police was found dead in that same building and also, just last week, a girl was thrown down naked after being raped by some heartless men of the underworld. That place has been an hideout for criminals who steal and terrorize our community. They go in there to share the loot stolen from us.”

Incidentally, as a result of the notoriety of the building, the death of Afolabi there, elicited little or no sympathy as people in the neighbourhood went about their businesses as if nothing happened. Only the distraught wife was left to mourn the demise of the bread winner of their family.  She said that she would be saddled with the onerous responsibility of catering for her growing children all alone.

Crime Alert gathered that both Oto-Aowri local government Council and good Samaritans who live in the community have been helping her to overcome her burden. Some members of the community used the opportunity to appeal to Police authorities in Lagos State to help them put a stop to the crime that has be giving them sleepless nights by creating more police stations because the only station there,  Hausa Ilemba division, was not enough for a whole community like Awori.