Lagos: Hoodlums Attack Community, Destroy 100 Shops

Some suspected hoodlums on Wednesday destroyed the properties of businessmen and women, whose shops are located in the Alakuko and Dalemo areas, which are border communities in Lagos State and the Ogun States.

According to a report, some shops were burgled and the goods in the shops were looted during the attack which lasted about five hours.

It was reported that the area was invaded by the hoodlums around 1 am and stirred fear amidst the people in the communities.

An eyewitness, who identified herself as Oluwadamilola said, “The tension created by the hoodlums woke me and I saw them dressed in black threatening to attack anyone who dare come out to confront them.”

She further stated that when the residents of the communities stepped out in the morning, bloodstains and broken glasses were spotted in the environment.

She said, “The incident happened around 1am; the hoodlums were many and I saw them while peeping through my window. I saw people in black clothes on Dotun Adeyemi Street and they were armed. I heard them saying, ‘Break that shop, everybody come out’; it appeared that they were ready for war and were challenging the residents to come out. Residents were scared and if anybody had come out, they would have finished the person.”

“When some of the shop owners got to their shops this morning, they saw bloodstains on the walls and the glasses of their shops were shattered in pieces. A security guard at Dalemo was seriously injured and is hospitalised. The situation is terrible; they operated from 1am till 5am and took advantage of the situation to steal properties. They destroyed about 100 shops; we are no longer safe.”

A shop owner identified as Bose Akingbade said the glasses of over 100 shops were destroyed, she revealed that the Alakuko Police Division has restored normalcy in the area.

The Chairman, Adalemo-Opeoluwa Community Development Association, Audu Idowu, while speaking on the incident said the bottles used in smashing shops and residential houses were stolen from a shop in the area and urged the state government to intervene to keep the community safe.

He stated, “This is a mystery to us. The people who came to attack us on our street were over 100. They burgled someone’s shop in the area and stole bottles and an engine and used the bottles to destroy over 100 shops in the area.”

“They also took advantage of the situation to loot goods from the shops. We want the government to intervene.”

The Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Bala Elkana, when contacted said, “When we got the report, we deployed our personnel in the scene of the crime. The whole clash started from a community that falls in Ogun State, which is very close to our division; so, we responded. Some parts of Alakuko, which fall under Lagos State, were also affected.”

“We have arrested three suspects in connection with the crime and the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has sent the Special Track Force on Social Miscreants to the area to combat these miscreants until they are totally defeated.”