All hope seems
lost for residents of Ikorodu area of Lagos, following repeated cases of
kidnapping and robbery by suspected militants. The community had hoped that
after
the military air and land raids in July 2016, and the demolition of some
shanties in the creeks this week, sanity will be restored. Reality dawned on
them when days after the raid, the militants resumed attacks, this time more
aggressive than in the past.
Not left out
in the line up of victims are security personnel, who have been repeatedly
killed in their numbers. More worrisome now is an intelligence indicating that
the militants are planning fresh attacks in Lagos and Ogun, with schools as
specific targets.
The threat
from the militants is however top on the agenda of a meeting by South-West
governors, who are scheduled to meet in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital on
Monday.
It would be
recalled that the militants widely known to be notorious for vandalising
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines, decided to extend
their criminal activities to kidnapping and robbery. As far back as 2013, they
successfully invaded banks in Lekki, Festac and Ikorodu areas of Lagos in broad
daylight, till they were curbed and some of their top commanders either killed
or arrested. Thereafter, they concentrated their efforts on kidnapping and
robbing houses close to the creeks.
Although the
police have been able to nab some of their top leaders in the creeks, Saturday
Sun gathered that efforts are geared towards picking up the current commander,
popularly known as Ossy, who is still on the run.
It was
gathered that Ossy who is currently hiding in Ondo State is still
co-coordinating most of the major kidnap and robbery operations in Lagos State.
Embittered by
Federal Government’s refusal to grant him amnesty, he ordered his boys to
unleash hell on communities surrounding the creeks till his voice is heard.
The most
recently reported attack led to the death of six security personnel who had
gone to rescue victims abducted by militants at Isawo, a community in Ikorodu.
It was gathered that the hoodlums in the area killed the security men in an
ambush.
Residents,
victims cry for help
Pleading for a
quick intervention, residents and some victims have called on the authorities
to help restore sanity in the community.
One of the
victims simply identified as Ms. Bisola, a 52-year-old-woman, said she was
abducted by the militants two weeks ago from her apartment at Isawo. “They
attacked the area that very day and were robbing houses, but when they got to
our house, they felt we had money. I even explained to them that if I was rich,
I would have left the area, but they refused.
“It was when
we got to the boat that I saw about four other persons that were also picked
that night. Initially, we entered a speedboat, after about five minutes ride;
they transferred us into another boat. It took almost two hours to get to the
bush, where we were kept”, she narrated
“When we got
there, they separated us. I later got to realise that there are different
groups in that bush. The gang that picked one man and I were different from the
others. They warned that if we attempt to escape, we will die, because the
whole creek is filled with militants. I was lucky that the group that picked us
was only after money and they do not rape their victims. At night, you will
hear the screams from other women from other camps and when we ask them what
was wrong, they will tell us that the boys were having sex with the women. It’s
horrible and I do not wish that they will pick my enemy. I was released three
days later after my family managed to pay them N700, 000”, she recalled.
Another
victim, Chief Samson told Saturday Sun that his house at Ikorodu is up for
sale, because of the activities of militants. “It was when they picked me up
the second time that I knew it was time to either relocate to another part of
Lagos, or return to my village in the east. Initially, I thought the media was
blowing the matter out of proportion till they visited me and I never believed
that they will dare leave houses close to the creeks and attack some of us
living close to Agric bus stop.
“It was a
horrible experience. They beat me up mercilessly and dragged me into a waiting
bus. They drove through Isawo to the creeks and you cannot believe that there
was no policeman on patrol. We were about six picked up that very day. I was
released the next day, when my family gave them N2 million. A week later, they
came back for me”, he recounted.
Recalling his
experience in the creeks, Samson said they were not blindfolded throughout
their stay in the bush. “I was not blindfolded and those boys did not bother to
hide their faces. They were brandishing their AK47 rifles and told us that any
security man that dared to rescue us will be embarking on a suicide mission.
They are everywhere and heavily armed. They only fed us with rice and water.
Those heartless criminals sexually abused the lady in our midst; no woman
should pray to fall into the hands of kidnappers.
“I tried to
chat with one of them and he told me that kidnapping is more lucrative these
days than pipeline vandalisation. They lamented that the number of marketers
that usually patronise them has reduced. This is because of the presence of the
military around the routes that they normally take to bring out the stolen
product.
“I asked them
if they are not afraid of being caught and he told me that they are more armed
than most of the security men on duty. Most of their people, who were caught,
were picked up outside the creeks.”
Not left out
were some residents who summoned courage to talk with Saturday Sun.
They lamented that the state government had given up in its quest to keep
Ikorodu safe from the activities of militants.
A trader,
simply identified as John who has resorted to riding commercial
motorcycle, Okada, lamented that his business crashed because
of low patronage and theft. “I had a provision store along Isawo road. I was
doing well till they broke into my shop and stole as much as they could. It was
a sad experience, and I reported to the police. When they learnt that police
were investigating, they wrote a warning letter to me and pasted it in front of
my shop. This scared away people from my shop and because I knew that their
threats were real, I decided to close down the shop. It is horrible; if I did
not stop police from investigating, they would have kidnapped me and
slaughtered me in the creeks. A lot of people have disappeared same way. The
only good thing that happened is that the cost of accommodation has crashed.
You can get three-bedroom flat for N200,000, because most of the buildings are
empty. These people have visited almost every good house in Isawo area. No one
is safe. Forget all those stories of security men taking over the protection of
the creeks. It’s even worse now, because all they succeeded in doing was to reduce
pipeline vandalism and encourage them to kidnap people.”
Yet another
member of the community identified as Azeez suggested that the military should
convert the creeks as their training field. “That is the only way out. If there
is a major raid they will all disappear and reappear as soon as the security
men are gone.
“Even
journalists are tired of reporting the matter except a school is attacked. The
truth is that they pick people daily and nobody is doing anything about it.
People are fleeing the area, but some of us cannot run away from our land.
“It’s very
important to let government know that people are disappearing in this community
and no one is doing anything about it. If they know that I talked to you, they
will come after my family and I. They are the ones behind the disappearance of
one of the best psychiatrists that we have in the area. The man was assisting
police and army with information and they came and picked him. They simply told
the family to forget about him that they will kill and bury him inside the
creeks. That area is a cemetery; the only difference is that people are buried
anyhow. We need Governor Ambode to come to our rescue. As a civil servant, I
pay my tax regularly. He should not use our tax to secure rich men who can
afford to pay for the best security in the whole world,” he said.
Fresh
plans uncovered
Although the
military air and land raid was publicly announced as a huge success, one of the
suspected militants identified as Bekewei, who witnessed the raid insists that
no single militant died during the attack. He also bragged that all their
weapons were moved out of the creeks long before the bombardment started.
On how they
managed to escape unhurt, he said that they became aware of the intended raid
when the military came for surveillance.
“They flew
across the areas severally and all we did was to ask simple questions and we
were told that they were planning to bomb the creeks. It was then that we
started moving our weapons out of the area.
“They were
merely throwing bombs on a deserted area and besides our people monitored the
news to know what was happening. Let them produce the corpse of one militant
that was killed during the raid. It is only fire outbreak that has really
killed a lot of militants in the creeks.”
Saturday
Sun gathered
that Commander Ossy remains the boss in the creeks and he was advised to
relocate to Ondo State and operate from there. He is said to have left four
commanders in charge in Laqgos. They are Vika, America, Stone and Mighty who
died some days ago in a shootout with operatives of the Police Intelligence Response
Team (IRT).
Mighty, whose
real name is Endurance Ominisan, was trailed to an apartment which he rented
for his girlfriend on No 20 Joel Adebolu Street, Ibeshe area of Ikorodu, . He
was alleged to have participated in the recent killings of policemen and
soldiers in Isawo area. He allegedly participated in the kidnap of Oniba of Iba
and the Turkish schoolgirls.
Bekewei also
said that the militants were planning to attack more schools and no one could
stop them. He boasted that they made so much money during any school kidnap
operation. Also on their list is the plan to attack the police stations within
their reach to stock up their arsenal.
Police
ready for battle
On the
readiness of the Lagos State police command, the spokesperson ASP Olarinde
Famous- Cole through a text message said: “We are eager to keep criminals at
bay in Lagos State. While giving Lagos and Lagosians a safe and secure
environment where individuals can strive in their daily activities.” However a
senior police officer who spoke exclusively to Saturday Sun lamented
that tens of hundreds of security personnel have been wasted by the militants.
“We do not
make noise about our loss, the ones on the pages of newspapers, are the ones
you hear about. We are capable of ending their reign in Lagos and Ogun if all
the security agencies are ready to work as a group. All the so -called air
raids are waste of tax payers fund when it is obvious that these militants have
infiltrated most of our security agencies. They tend to get information of every
possible attack and the casualty amongst security men is alarming.
“Whether you
believe it or not, we have lost more security personnel than the civilians that
we are protecting. I do not blame those who refused to enter the creek on foot
to engage these criminals because it is simply suicidal. Those boys are heavily
armed with sophisticated weapons. If it is possible, we need a military base or
a police training ground, all around the creeks surrounding Lagos. I believe
that those criminals have a training camp inside the creeks, because that is
the only explanation as to how they learn to make use of sophisticated weapons.
Their camps are so many and if they are not dismantled, more attacks will still
happen. The more you arrest or kill them, the more others take over.”
Sun News
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