Police Shoot Three As Residents Lynch Suspected Badoo Cultist
A violent clash, which broke out between policemen and residents of Aga area of Ikorodu, Lagos State left three persons hit by stray bullets Monday.
The incident occurred at Oni-Ogunsanya Street, near the community’s Olomomeje mosque. Policemen were said to have fired shots to disperse a crowd that gathered to lynch a suspected member of murderous cult gang, Badoo.
The suspect, identified as Vincent Onama, was caught around 2a.m. by members of the local vigilance group, Onyabo, while allegedly trying to dispossess and/or kill a motorcyclist.
It was gathered that the vigilance members after interrogating Onama, locked him inside a room till dawn for proper identification.
But when they went to the room he was kept, the suspect had allegedly applied black oil on his body and was attempting to escape through the window, a tactic often used by the notorious Badoo gang.
At that point, the vigilance members were said to have been convinced he was a Badoo member and notified residents of the community, who trooped to the location to see the suspect.
They were stopped by policemen who tried to whisk him away to safety. However, attempts by the police to take the suspect away was aborted by the mob, including youths in the area.
To have their way, the policemen released gunshots in order to disperse the crowd, which hit three persons.
Angered by the development, the youths engaged the policemen in a fight resulting to a full-blown crisis in the area.
It was gathered that Onama had lived in the neighborhood but relocated to Ajah, from where he came to the area and was caught at the wee hours of yesterday.
A resident, Tunde, who spoke with newsmen, said the suspect mounted a roadblock to either collect his victim’s motorcycle or kill him.
“It was the anger the police provoked that led to his being killed. Initially, the people were questioning him. It was when the policemen fired shot and hit three people that the mob brought him out, lynched him and burnt him to death.
“One person was hit on the head and he was rushed to the hospital. I can’t say if he died or not. Another person was hit on the hand. I don’t know where the bullet touched the third victim.”
Ikorodu Ambassadors’ Coordinator, Rasheed Fatuga said: “We call on the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi and other royal fathers to rise up and save the division from its current ugly and bad name.”
