The Nation's Newspaper report:
Ten children were yesterday feared drowned and many others injured
during an ethnic clash in Ajah.
Several make shift houses
and properties were also destroyed.
According to a resident, Jonathan Zosu, the children were running
away when they drowned inside the lagoon at Otodogbame. He said their bodies
were yet be found.
Zosu said:
“This problem started since last weekend but things really got bad
on Sunday when the police came here and arrested our monarch, Baale Dansu
Hunkpe. How can anyone claim we are not Nigerians? Where are we from then?
“Our ancestors migrated to this community from Badagry and we have
lived here for centuries. Over 90 percent of the people here are Nigerians. The
other 10 percent are other nationals who are residents.
“It is all about land tussle. The boys were sent here to chase us
out of our homes so that their senders can inherit our properties. So many
people were arrested that Sunday but yet, we resisted their attempt to chase us
out.
“But early morning on Wednesday, they came again. The youths,
mostly cultists, came with cutlasses and other weapons. They were cutting
people on sight.
“So many people were injured in that process. As they macheted
people, they scattered our homes and set them ablaze. It was in the chaos that
the 10 children drowned inside the lagoon.
“We have not seen their bodies yet. As I am talking with you, I am
still inside the water. So many people have been rendered homeless. We called
the police but instead of assisting us, the police joined the hoodlums in
burning our homes.”
But the police said they were no casualties, adding that 16 people
were arrested on Wednesday.
According to the police, all the leaders in the community have
been arrested and charged to court.
A police source said:
“No one died. Some people
were injured. In all, about 30 persons have been arrested. The division had
arrested some of them, including their leaders and charged them to court. They
are in prison custody. It is a fight between the Yoruba and non-indigenes. The
Yoruba are claiming the Egun are non-indigenes and so, they should vacate the
community.
“They said their lands are high priced now and that they want them
back but the Egun refused because they have been in the area for almost 100
years and have no place to go. So, because the place is by the water, the
hoodlums hide inside the water surrounding bushes and then, come out to light
matches on the shanties and disappear again.
“It is not true that police supported them. We have been arresting
some of them. And we also put out the fire and policemen from RRS rescued
people from being burnt to death.”
PUNCH Newspaper's report:
No fewer than 200 structures were burnt on Wednesday in Otodo
Gbame, an Egun community in the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos State, during a
clash between some Egun and Yoruba youths.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the crisis started on Sunday, when the
Yoruba youths demanded that the residents should relocate from the area.
It was gathered that the Egun community insisted that residents
would not leave their houses, tagging the youths as hoodlums and land grabbers.
The crisis came to a head on Wednesday when the Yoruba youths set
fire to the structures in the area at about 8am.
The action was said to have triggered a clash between the youths
of the Egun community and their Yoruba counterparts.
Two persons were said to have been injured during the clash, while
the area was quickly deserted as the fire raged. Some residents reportedly
salvaged their property from the fire and fled.
It was learnt that policemen from the Rapid Response Squad, the
Maroko division and the Area J Command, Ajah, went to the area to restore
normalcy.
A policeman on the team said an abandoned two-day-old baby was
rescued from one of the burning structures.
He said, “When the structures were set ablaze, the mother and the
father of the baby fled. It was the cry of the baby that drew the attention of
policemen to that room. The baby was locked inside the house. The baby was
rescued and reunited with her parents.”
“Nobody was killed, but about three persons were injured. The
entire community was razed.”
yoruba-egun-youths-clash-in-lagos-burn-200-structures
A resident, who identified himself only as Hunsu, said, “The
crisis started on Sunday. Some people came and said they had bought our land
and we should relocate. We did not know that the hoodlums would go to this
extent.
“The crisis escalated on Wednesday when they invaded the community
and set fire to our property. All my belongings are gone. My wife and children
are homeless.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, went to the area
around 2pm and held a peace meeting between the leaders of the two groups.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos,
said five suspects were arrested in connection with the crisis.
She said, “The command received a report that the Egun and Yoruba
communities were engaged in a serious brawl over land issue. Upon receipt of
the information, the command operatives from the RRS and men of the Area J
Command moved in. Some shanties being occupied by the residents were set ablaze
by the warring factions.
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