The dreaded ritual cult, Badoo, yesterday struck again, attacking a family of five at Olopomeji, Odogunyan area of Ikorodu in Lagos State, and killing three persons.Two children between the ages of two and four are presently in critical conditions at the Ikorodu General Hospital after the suspected Badoo attacker left them for dead at around 3a.m. on Wednesday.
Following the attack on four houses in the area, many residents of the community thronged the palace of Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Adewale Shotobi, to protest against the continued killings.
The raided compounds are Numbers 9, 10, 11 and 12, Aliyu Adesanya Street, Olopomeji bus stop, but the fatality was recorded at No. 9 where the family of one David Ikehi was brutally attacked.
According to eyewitnesses, the Ikehis, who lived in a rented apartment, were last seen on Tuesday night but at about 4a.m., a neighbour identified as ‘Baba Chukwuemeka’ of No 10, raised the alarm that he escaped being struck with a grinding stone by an unknown person who accessed his building through the window.
The man, who escaped death by the whiskers, claimed the assailant was armed with a grinding stone and accessed his apartment through one of the windows, but he was vigilant enough to have dodged the grinding stone and wrestled with his assailant who escaped the scene leaving the grinding stone behind, since he could not overpower his target.
Baba Chukwuemeka’s shout for help caught the attention of other neighbours who rallied round for support. While this was ongoing, another shout was heard from No. 9 and people rushed there only to discover that the door leading to the apartment of Ikehi’s landlord was fastened with copper wire. The sympathisers broke the door to rescue the landlord.
In an attempt to check round the compound, they discovered that the Ikehis were the main victims of the attack. Another eyewitness account said David, his wife, Pricilla, and their son Moses were hacked to death with a grinding stone, while another son, Sunday, was seriously injured with their two-year-old boy still missing.
A bloodstained grinding stone was found in the premises and that was when they suspected that the dreaded cult group had successfully struck at the Ikehis. Apart from house numbers 9 and 10, two other buildings were also attacked, although no casualty was recorded.
Policemen from Sagamu Road Division were invited to the scene and the injured was taken to the hospital while the dead were taken to the mortuary. By the dawn of the day, the incident attracted a mammoth crowd, with infuriated residents throwing pebbles at officials of the Department of State Security (DSS), policemen and military personnel drafted to the area. They were shouting and demanding for thorough investigations into the killings and attacks in Ikorodu and its environs.
The relations of Ikehis who were alerted about the development were speechless on arrival at the premises. However, a family friend identified as Ogiri managed to give the victims’ identity as the Ikehis from Benue State.
Yesterday’s attack was the third within a month as the bodies of a couple were discovered last weekend at Ekundayo area of Idi-oro, Ogijo, in Ikorodu, three days after they were last seen by their neighbours.
Meanwhile, worried by the escalating incidences of crime in the communities, the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) yesterday held a town hall meeting on security with tradesmen and artisans association at the state secretariat, Alausa.
According to the Executive Secretary of the fund, Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun, the tradesmen and artisans play a critical role in the security architecture of the state and we want to take advantage of their extensive and expansive network.
“They are available in all facets of our lives in our society and they are useful in intelligence gathering. Based on the security challenges on our hands, we want to partner with them to feed our security agencies with valuable information on goings on around them in the community where they reside and work.”
Commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos Police Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police Olatunji Disu, said the kidnap kingpin, Evans’ episode has made it necessary for everyone to know his or her neighbour.
“No matter how brilliant a police force is, it cannot perform magic without information. There is no stupid information. This is why it is inevitable to liaise with the body of artisans to help pick up intelligence and pass it on to their community leaders or association leaders who will in turn bring it to our notice.
“Security is everyone’s responsibility. You cannot effectively protect your community without first protecting your family. If everyone protects his family, the community would be protected and how is that possible, by paying attention to details and strange happenings in your area.”The townhall meeting was also used to intimate the artisans about the MTN short-code which enables members of the public to donate to the fund with as little as N50 per SMS.