By Ifeanyi Okolie

Residents of Idi-Araba area of Lagos State, were last Friday thrown into mourning following the death of a 16-year-old girl, Nofisat Adeyemi, and a 30-year-old man, Garuba Muhammad, who were killed during a vicious attack in the area by suspected members of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, and some factions of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, from Mushin, who have been on constant rampage in the area.

The victims who were said to have met their untimely deaths around 9am that day, were hit during sporadic shootings from hoodlums who invaded the area from the dreaded Mosolashi, Ala-Salatu, Ogunbaye and Onifade streets all in Mushin, fully armed with various types of assault rifles.

An eyewitness, Olajide Motoro, who spoke with Crime Guard said over 30 young men, armed with long guns, had walked into Paul Okuntola Street in Idi-Araba, where they reportedly opened fire at innocent residents in the street, killing two and left several others with severe injuries.

•Hafiz Ringim, Inspector General of Police

According to Motoro, “It was like a movie when these hoodlums struck. They came at a time when there was a naming ceremony going on at No 12, Paul Okuntola Street and the place was parked with a lots of guests mostly northerners.

But when the shooting started, the ceremony was forced to close, but before some of the guests could run for their lives, one of them got shot in the head and he slumped and died. But the hoodlums were undeterred by the sight of a dead man lying on the ground.

They reportedly continued with their onslaught, shooting indiscriminately and one of them got to Nofisat, who stumbled and fell on the ground, while trying to escape flying bullets. He shot her at close range and she died.”

But soldiers at the Idi-Ara bus Stop who were posted at the spot, classified as a ‘flash point’ during the April general elections, rose to the defence of the residents. They responded swiftly to distress calls made by terrified inhabitants of the street and chased the rampaging hoodlums back into Mushin.

When they thought they succeeded in repelling the onslaught from the hoodlums as a result of their swift response, they were shocked to see the lifeless bodies of an innocent man and a female teenager lying dead on the ground.

This, according to Motoro, angered the soldiers and they marched angrily into Mushin and combed some of the dreaded streets where these hoodlums emerged from and they ended up apprehending seven persons, including the gun man who murdered Nofizat in cold blood and handed them over to the police at Area D Command.

Lateef Akinpelu, a youth leader in Idi-Araba who spoke with Crime Guard applauded efforts of the soldiers both in dispersing the hoodlums and the subsequent arrest which he said was the first since the carnage started in 2009 by warring factions of NURTW and OPC.

Narrating how it started, he said, “In 2009 when factions of the OPC were engaging themselves in deadly battle for supremacy and some elders in Mushin local government decided to intervene, they persuaded the youths to stop fighting and unite by forming groups that will drive their desired goals positively.

And these youths then bought into the plan and formed a group to unite all the warring factions of OPC, which is known as Mushin Sanitation Team.

Ever since that team was formed, normalcy and peace returned to Mushin. Some people who were cashing in on the turmoil were not happy and continued to sponsor attacks all over Mushin in a bid to disperse the team. After they attacked Idi-Araba, they will move straight to Idi-Oro and unleash terror.

And whenever they carry out the attacks, the police in Area D Command will do nothing about it, rather they will come and raid any one they find around our area after the attack.

But those soldiers have brought solace to residents of the area. We pray these people will not be released like in the past and they will be charged to court to face the penalty.”

Meanwhile, the Hausa Community in Idi-Araba has called on the state government to take drastic actions to forestall activities of these hoodlums or risk a reprisal attack, which it said is becoming its only option. Bala Momodu, who spoke to Crime Guard during a visit said, “this is one killing too many. These people have killed a lot of our people during their incessant raids and nobody is saying anything about it.

They have attacked this area severally and they have killed about four of our brothers in the process and we are not going to take it any longer. We are law-abiding and peaceful citizens in this area and I wonder why these people are forcing our hands. We want government to put a stop to these attacks and allow those arrested pay for their crime.”

However, relatives of Nofisat, are wailing furiously. They also want government to prosecute killers of their beloved daughter.

Tope Ogunbade, a step sister to the deceased described her death as a huge loss which the family cannot replace easily. “She was a lovely girl and respectful.

I still cannot believe that she is gone. She was with me when the shooting started and I asked her to go into the house, because I was scared that something was going to happen to her.

But unfortunately, she was killed when she was running into the house. All we need now is for the police to prosecute the killers and make sure they paid for the crime.”

The Lagos State Police Spokesman, Samuel Jinadu, while reacting to the report assured that the police will not spare the arrested criminals. We will ensure they are prosecuted judiciously,” he assured.