Help! Hoodlums Have Taken Over Ajegunle, Residents Raise Alarm

Folake Sokoya

Redsidents of the Ajegunle/Boundary area of Lagos State have cried out for help as they said hoodlums have taken over the place,terrorising the neighborhood on a daily basis.

A shop owner who has been robbed twice in one week at 28, Okoya Street, said the “boys” usually wait till it is dark before they invade the area in droves to attack shop owners.

“What they do is to wait till it is around 7.30pm, they come out from somewhere across the bridge by ‘Cemetery’, which leads to Garba Lane. That lane is directly opposite Aromire Street that is just off Okoya. They stand in between these streets and start robbing people. They snatch phones and any valuable at will. They also divide themselves in twos and threes to rob shop owners, brandishing cutlasses. After robbing for about 30 minutes, they take their leave, taking different routes. Often times, they end up fighting themselves in the process of sharing their loot,” Ejike, one of the victims says.

He continues, “Sometime in May, they came to attack the bar (Lefty Bar) directly opposite my shop around 4pm. I was being supplied drinks from a truck and the next thing I saw was these boys numbering about five. One of them had chased the boys supplying me drinks and was face to face with me. He was about to cut me with the cutlass when I warned him not to try.”

Another resident, Barrister Bright Obaduemu says, “It is very pathetic and security has collapsed. I think the residents should hold their security issues by the horn because security operatives, the police, are very insufficient and inactive and we all believe the police personnel are not doing enough.

“The residents too are equally responsible for the lack of security because when police make random arrests at times, procedurally, there should be witnesses to identify the suspects and attach them to specific crimes which will present a prima facie case for the police to act upon and prosecute them,” he said.

Obaduemu also insinuated that the police had been treating the robbers with kid gloves. “Police usually end up releasing such suspects and the residents will start complaining about the police action. However, that does not absolutely extricate the police from the security challenges in this area. We have done a lot of awareness to the police concerning this insecurity and it is even an open secret that these boys are now in command of the area both during the day and in the night,” he said.

Another resident who does not want his name mentioned recounts an incident that happened recently. “About 1.45pm, these boys invaded Okoya Street and butchered a woman. She was saved by the timely intervention at Tolu Hospital where she was rushed.

“These hoodlums come in droves brandishing cutlasses and harming residents mercilessly while carting away their belongings in the process. They are so intimidating and I can’t but blame the police because they should be on constant patrol. We have met with them several times but they are not cooperating with us at all.”

He says that Ajegunle is becoming a shadow of itself because people are vacating the area for fear of been butchered for nothing by these boys “who still fight and kill themselves when they are sharing their ill gotten loots.”

Adenike Sadiq, a shop owner in the area recounts her own ordeal: “That faithful day when I got to the shop, I asked my sales girl and my pregnant younger sister that came to visit me if there was no sign of hoodlums around because it has become a normal thing for armed boys to invade our area, attack shops and houses and rob them blind. When I was told that the area was calm, we proceeded to display our wares.

“Then I saw commotion in front of my neighbour’s bar, I knew it must be the boys at work again, so I quickly kept my money inside the trouser I wore with my phone and that of my sister’s. As I ran out of the shop to run inside the main house, two of the boys grabbed my hand and the next I felt was the cutlass on my hand and that was how I was robbed of the cash sum of about N95,000 and recharge cards worth over N50,000. The bag I had left in the shop while trying to escape was ransacked and about N35,000 and a smaller phone was taken.”

The traditional ruler of the area, Baale Oke Ira, Ajegunle, Taiwo Hassan Olayeni claims that he had to follow the police around to make sure they do their job but, “The attacks became so much that I had to start patrolling with the police but they have become fearless that they now rob in day time. If I am contacted during a robbery attack and I am able to get hold of Layeni policemen we go to the scene.”

He claims that the police between May and June arrested about ten of the hoodlums after they engaged themselves in a fight and one of them was killed.

“I, as Baale, usually lead policemen to the houses of some of these bad boys but residents, for fear of the unknown, do not come out as witnesses and these boys end up being freed. It is now that they are very ready to cooperate because the evil act seems to be consuming every household on daily basis. Nobody knows which house is the next to be robbed.”

Armed robbery is not new in Ajegunle, and some major robberies have happened in the area. The notorious One Million Boys, a gang of dreaded bandits, started in Ajegunle and many suffered for it. Just as crime took over the area, many others stood firm to battle crime. Vigilance groups were set up to tackle the menace. This was very successful, as the One Million Boys relocated finally from Ajegunle, but we still have different group of boys that rob even during the day.

The Divisional Police Officer of Layeni police division spoke with our reporter after several attempts to reach him and he confirmed that truly, hoodlums have been terrorising the area under his jurisdiction. He also said that several arrests have been made after the attacks.

Despite these, residents of the area are very wary for their lives and properties.