The injured LG workers
There was pandemonium in the premises of the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area headquarters, FESTAC Town, on Monday evening when hoodlums invaded the area.
Continental Gist gathered that no fewer than seven workers at the secretariat were injured in the process.
It was learnt that the hoodlums stormed the premises at about 5.30pm with weapons such as cutlasses, machetes and bottles.
It was further gathered that some of the hoodlums, who brought guns, also shot sporadically into the air, creating confusion among residents on 41 Road, where the LGA secretariat is located.
When our correspondent visited the LGA secretariat on Tuesday, some broken bottles were seen on the ground, while sliding windows in the secretariat were vandalised. Also, bullet marks were observed during the visit.
The LGA workers, who showed our correspondent their head, hands and back injuries, recounted their experiences in the hands of the invaders.
One of them, an environmental task force official, Mr. Godwin Ovat, said the hoodlums had initially fought the LGA task force in Alakija, a neighbouring area earlier in the day.
He said, “The hoodlums had come to our base in Alakija while we were on an exercise. That was around 2.30pm, and they were about 45 people. They began to fight with our boss. They stabbed me on the hand.
“Later, when they came to the council secretariat, they shot into the air. That was about 5.30pm. They threw several bottles, stones and other missiles at whoever they saw.”
Another worker, Mr. Akeem Adeoye, noted that the attack was very shocking to the LGA workers as no one knew what the hoodlums were fighting for.
“At about 5pm, I saw a lot of people coming with weapons. Till now, I cannot explain the cause of the invasion. I urge the police to carefully investigate this matter,” he said.
The President of the FESTAC Town Residents Association, Mr. Jola Ogunlusi, alleged that a group called the Community Policing Youths Vanguard was the cause of the unrest in the area.
He said, “I must say that we have never had a group giving us this kind of problem. I want the higher authorities to help us sanitise FESTAC Town.”
Also, the Amuwo-Odofin LGA Chairman, Ayodele Adewale, in a press statement on the incident, said it took the efforts of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps attached to the council to push the hoodlums out of the premises.
Ayodele’s statement read in part, “At about 5.20pm, a group of men waded into the LGA premises with guns, bottles and other instruments of destruction. It took the efforts of the NSCDC attached to the LGA to push the hoodlums outside the premises, though some members of staff had already been wounded.
“Eventually, we got the intervention of Rapid Response Squad from Alausa, Ikeja, and OP MESA on 41 Road, thereby preventing further attack. I appeal to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to come to the aid of the residents of this local government area, who now live in the fear of the activities of a group known as the Community Policing Youth Vanguard.”
The Lagos State Deputy Police spokesperson, ASP Lelma Kolle, said the cause of the crisis was the arrest of suspected hoodlums in Alakija by the LGA security unit called the Neighbourhood Watch.
He said, “A group in the Secretariat – the Neighbourhood Watch – went to Alakija to arrest people involved in gambling,otherwiseknown as Baba Ijebu.
“While, they were there, there was some trouble, but they were able to arrest some of the gamblers.
“The LGA chairman called the military authorities and the arrested youths were taken by soldiers their barracks.
“But after interrogation, the soldiers released them, and when the youths came out, they regrouped and went back to the place they were arrested.
“That was how the fighting then started. So, it was between the Community Youths Vanguard, the Neighbourhood Watch and the gamblers.
“It does not involve the police at all. It took the intervention of the Area E Commander, Dammian Okoro, to bring the situation under control.”
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