Two brothers along with three other
persons have been shot dead in the
Ajegunle area of Lagos after hoodlums
hijacked a campaign rally while the
politicians were distributing gifts to the
residents.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the campaign
rally, which was organised by a
Senatorial candidate of the All
Progressives Congress, went through
Oduduwa and Layinka streets in the
area, and moved down to Cemetery
Road in Amukoko.
Our correspondent gathered that the
rally, however, turned violent on
Layinka Street when some politicians,
who were said to have accompanied the
Senatorial candidate, began to share out
gifts.
It was learnt that as the supporters and
residents scrambled for the items, some
thugs, who felt they were being
sidelined, attacked the supporters.
Two other factions of the thugs also
reportedly clashed, shooting at one
another and vandalising property.
Our correspondent learnt that two
young men of the same parents,
identified simply as Abeeb and Idris,
were among the five persons killed by
the bullets.
It was gathered that Abeeb, more
commonly called Abere, was shot twice
in the belly and died instantly, while
Idris, his younger brother, was initially
rushed to a private hospital in the area
before he died.
The two youths lived with their parents
on Alayabiagba Street, Boundary,
Ajegunle.
When PUNCH Metro visited the area on
Wednesday, a police source told our
correspondent that two corpses were
brought to the Ajegunle Police Division
on Tuesday after the police had
restored normalcy to the area.
He said,
“Two dead bodies from the rally
were brought to the station by
evening. Later, a well known
politician showed up to arrange
how they would be buried. This
morning, we have gone to the
Cemetery Market, Ajegunle, to pick
up another corpse.”
Our correspondent also observed
broken bottles and smashed windows
and doors on Layinka Street where the
rally had turned bloody.
A shop owner, who gave her name as
Ojedokun, said the thugs looted her
goods and shot continually, during
which stray bullets injured several
passersby.
She said,
“Trouble started when the aspirant
began to share out gifts to
supporters. He gave out mobile
phones, pressing irons, among
other things. As people scrambled
for those gifts, trouble began.
“The thugs brought out guns and
began to shoot to scare away
people. They began to smash bottles
on the ground and attack one
another. Even the policemen, who
accompanied the rally, fled for
their lives.
“Stray bullets hit people. We later
heard that about six people were
shot dead.”
Another resident told our
correspondent that the corpse
recovered by the police at the Cemetery
Market was a young man, who was
hacked to death.
He said,
“The two brothers, who were shot
dead, are being buried as I speak to
you. There is no one in their house
as they have gone away. The corpse
that we saw at the Cemetery Market
was a man hacked to death, but the
police have taken him away.”
When PUNCH Metro got to the Amukoko
Police Division, our correspondent
observed yet another dead victim of the
violence, who was covered with a
wrapper and laid on the ground.
It was learnt that the parents of the
deceased, who hailed from Badagry
area, had shown up at the station and
were planning to come back for the
corpse.
Our correspondent was told that a
policeman was also shot during the
unrest and had been taken to a hospital
for treatment.
