Lagos residents mobilised themselves with cutlasses on Sunday afternoon and night to ward off attacks by street urchins who came out in their hundreds to attack and rob residents of their cash and other belongings along the roads and their residences.
The attacks followed the extension of the stay-at-home order by President Muhammadu Buhari, which affected Lagos, Ogun and Abuja for another 14 days to check the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
The President had said the restriction of movement applied to Ogun and Lagos states because of their closeness.
However, since the lockdown entered its second week, armed robbers have been having a field day in parts of Lagos and Ogun communities
The ‘area boys’, some of who were said to include idle okada and tricycle operators and touts, had swooped on Lagos residents in parts of Agege, Idi Mangoro, Akowonjo, Shasha, Idimu, Ikotun, Iyana Ipaja, Sango-Ota, Agbado Ijaiye, Adura, Meiran and Abule-Egba areas of Lagos and Ogun states, beating up people and stealing their belongings.
Eye witnesses said the ‘boys, allegedly belonging to different cult groups, carried guns, knives, cutlasses and broken bottles, sticks and cudgels to attack the people during their operations.
They reportedly blocked roads, made bonfires with motor tyres, while they attacked passers-by, intimidating people to part with their money.
Some break into houses, held people at ransom, forcefully taking whatever they could lay their hands, including cash, handsets, laptops and other belongings.
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During the attacks, which entered into Monday morning through the afternoon, the police in most places were overwhelmed and took to their heels.
In Alimosho area of Lagos and Iyana Ipaja, the policemen who had been on COVID-19 duty, took to their heels, deserting their duty posts as the attackers pounced on them.
As the attacks continued, the men in the areas mobilized themselves on Sunday afternoon and night and came out with cutlasses and sticks and faced the marauding urchins, until they retreated.
Sporadic gunshots were heard repeatedly all through Sunday night and Monday morning in Ikotun, Alimosho area, Iyana Ipaja and Abule Egba fired by the police to repel the attackers and secure the areas.
When contacted, the Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), maintained that the command was aware of the situation, which he attributed to some people who wanted to cause fear and confusion during the period of the lockdown.
According to him, the command received some distress calls from some areas that they were under attack, but that when policemen got to the areas, they could only see ‘boy’ making bonfires, and not those attacking people.
He, however, maintained that the order by President Buhari was that everyone should stay at home, and urged both hoodlums and the people turning themselves to emergency vigilantes to remain at home.
Elkana said that the police was doing everything possible to restore normalcy, while urging Lagosians not to be afraid.
