How Hoodlums Attacked Commuters Due To Traffic Diversion

MICHAEL AKINOLA 

Following massive infrastructural developments going on around Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State, hoodlums have capitalised on the huge human and vehicular traffic to attack and rob commuters of their valuables.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the attacks have gone unabated for some days now as a result of lack of Police presence around the area in the evenings.

According to an eyewitness, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, there used to be a Police van stationed at the junction by the railway crossing at Ikeja before construction works around the area commenced. The Police van and the operatives who manned it moved away from the vicinity as a result of heavy construction works and to allow for free vehicular movement.

“I sell my wares few poles to the junction. The very first day we experienced the attack, we just saw a group of young men brandishing machete, daggers and other dangerous weapons. We abandoned our wares and scampered for safety. While we tried to watch from a good distance, some people said that the hoodlums were the notorious “Awawa Boys” from Agege. They said that the huge human and vehicular traffic without any Police presence gave room for the attack” she said.

Speaking with P.M.EXPRESS correspondent, a 27-year old victim, Wunmi Popoola, who is a sales girl at the Computer Village, Ikeja, said that she lost her bag containing her mobile phone and other personal items including a nylon bag containing two power banks she was to deliver to one of their customers, who owned a shop within her area at Egbeda.

She said, “Normally, we board buses to our various destinations along Awolowo Way or Ikeja Along Bus Stop. But since they started the construction of the flyover, commuters trek down to the railway crossing along the express road to get buses. On Friday 4th March, 2022, after the close of business, we trekked as usual to the railway crossing. Within few minutes of getting to that spot, all of a sudden we saw young men with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons. We couldn’t escape the attack as we were already surrounded by them in their numbers”.

“They collected bags, mobile phones and dispossessed people of their valuables. We could not fathom such happening in a busy place like that. People ran in different directions. We’re used to pickpockets and phone snatchers, who have field days anytime people rush to catch a bus, but in this case some people abandoned their cars and fled. Those boys did not spare the cars which the owners had abandoned out of fear as they ransacked and picked valuables in the midst of the confusion” Wunmi said.

A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, who did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent that he was not at that spot when the incident took place. He said that he was coming close to the junction when he saw people running in different directions. He said that he did not wait to know what exactly was wrong and had to enter a safe place first. 

“I was coming close to the junction from Balogun Street when I saw people running. I just entered somewhere. Later, I heard some people narrating what they experienced. Some claimed that attacks like that are masterminded by the notorious” One Million Boys” or the Awawa Boys. I wouldn’t know which group of people were behind the attack” he said. 

As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear where the hoodlums emerged from. But many claimed that it must have been an attack by the Awawa Boys as they sped towards the Agege direction after the attack.