Pandemonium broke out in the Mosafejo, Oshodi-Isale area of Lagos State,
after rival groups said to be members of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers, clashed on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday.
Four people were reportedly killed, while several others were injured in
the fracas which was stopped after the intervention of security agencies.
It was gathered that no fewer than 15 commercial buses were set on fire,
while 12 others were vandalised.
Makeshift stalls in the Mosafejo Motor Park were also torched, leaving
traders in the park mourning their losses.
On a visit to the scene of the incident on Wednesday, the atmosphere was
still tense as men of the Nigeria Police Force and some soldiers were observed
patrolling the area.
The motor park, usually filled with vehicles, was deserted as the police
armoured tanks and patrol vans took over the space.
Broken bottles, shards of glass from shattered windscreens and pebbles,
said to have been deployed by some of the hoodlums during the fight, littered
the road.
Bloodstains dotted the Oshodi Roundabout, where a man was said to have
been shot dead and his corpse taken away by the police.
A vehicle was still burning as of 1pm when our correspondent passed the
area.
Around the same time, a police van manned by police officers was
observed taking some teenagers away.
A source said that the fight involved three groups ─ Big London boys,
Railway boys and Under-bridge boys.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fight started
after the police ordered that there should be a stop in hemp smoking in the
motor park.
The move was said to have been supported by the Big London boys,
which brought them in conflict with the Railway and Under-bridge gangs
who saw them as an ally of 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.”
Another witness, who did not identify herself, said one Idris was cut
with machete in the buttocks, leg and hand.
“No one knows if he will survive the attack because his condition is
critical,” she said.
On a visit to the area where the Under-bridge and Railway
groups had their camp, he met some of the men who alleged that the fight was
sponsored by the Big London gang.
“It was around 11pm on Tuesday that they came here. They were many in
the Big London group. They had the police backing them and they want to
drive us away from here. They descended on our vehicles and set many of them
ablaze which you can see for yourself.
“They shot and injured three of our people, who have been rushed to
hospital. We don’t know why they are after us and this fight could have been
bloodier, but we decided to be calm,” a man in the group, who did not identify
himself, said.
Another member of the group, who equally declined identification, showed
our correspondent an injury he sustained in his hand.
He said, “They shot at so many of us. This was where I was shot. Those
guys were many. They shot at about 100 of us and burnt many buses.”
Some of the traders, whose stalls were burnt, appealed for government’s
intervention.
Mrs. Taiwo Olajide, a mother of three and dealer in soft drinks, said
she lost all her goods to the violence.
She said, “The hoodlums set fire on all the stalls in this park. They
have ruined our business. This is where I feed my children and keep body and
soul together.”
Another trader, Mrs. Josephine Eze, said all her provisions were burnt.
Our correspondent also observed a cross-section of traders who were
seated in front of their shops, which were not affected by the fracas.
They lamented that they had not been able to operate their business
since the area was cordoned off by the police.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the
incident, said one person was killed, adding that the police recovered some
weapons from the hoodlums.
He 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.”
Nwosu added that the police arrested nine suspects in connection with
the crime.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the NURTW, Alhaji
Tajudeen Agbede, has said the union will unravel the cause of incessant violent
clashes in Oshodi.
He spoke on Wednesday while inaugurating a five-man committee to find
out immediate and remote causes of the fracas in the area.
Agbede said the leadership of the union in the state would not fold its
arms and watch some persons destroy the peace being enjoyed in the state.
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.”
Tags
Crime