Two die in fresh cult clashes in Lagos

There was pandemonium in the Somolu and Bariga areas, Lagos, on Thursday morning after cult groups clashed on some streets leaving one person dead and several others injured.

The clash, which began at about 7am touched Popoola Street in Bariga, extended to Efunolaye Street, Somolu. The hoodlums fired gunshots into the air and smashed the windscreens of several cars on the street.

Our correspondent who was caught in the commotion at neighbouring Fadipe Street, Somolu, observed that residents scampered for safety as the gunshots from the nearby streets rented the air.

Some traders hurriedly locked their shops, while other residents stood in their doorways and panicked over what could happen next. While the unrest lasted, the streets were empty with only a few young men moving on the streets to know the update.

Our correspondent gathered that some of the cult members had come to Fadipe Street on Tuesday evening and killed a suspected rival cult member who was said to be about 29 years. It was further learnt that the murder was reported to the Alade Police Division on Wednesday morning.

However, while the Wednesday commotion went on, two women on the street were overheard by our correspondent lamenting that the spate of insecurity in the area was becoming alarming, adding that they would have left the area if not that they were house owners.

On Popoola Street in Bariga, our correspondent observed the marks of bullets fired into people’s houses and vehicles shattered during the violence.

A resident, who craved anonymity, said the cult group came to Bariga on a reprisal, after one of their members was killed in Somolu the previous day. He said, “The cult boys are torturing each other in Bariga and Somolu. A group kills one today, the other kills two tomorrow. That is the bottom line of the unrest. Last weekend, they went as far as the Akoka area, Yaba, to get a member of a rival cult group killed. It is serious.”

Meanwhile, in Somolu, an anti-crime police van belonging to the Area H Command, Ogudu, was sighted with about four policemen driving towards the troubled streets. The Lagos State deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lelma Kolle, confirmed that there was a cult clash in Somolu area, adding that the intervention of the police helped to forestall further damage. He said, “The clash was in the Somolu area. The Area H Command, Ogudu, received a distress call and the area commander quickly mobilised policemen to the scene to curtail the situation. They were able to arrest two of the cultists. The suspects arrested are Hafiz Musa and Ifeanyi Ibegbu. The incident took place at Bukola Olorunfemi Street, Somolu.”