One Dead As Hoodlums Attack BRT Bus In Lagos

 Pandemonium broke out on Tuesday when miscreants clashed and killed one person in the Mile 12 and Owode-Elede areas of Lagos State.

The clash, which involved the Mile 12 Boys and the Owode-Elede Boys , was said to have been ongoing for days.

It was learnt that the miscreants took advantage of the clash to rob unsuspecting members of the public of their belongings and vandalise vehicles plying the areas.

Motorists were said to have abandoned the areas, leaving many commuters stranded on the road.

A resident of the Mile 12 area, who identified himself simply as Adedeji, said one person was killed, adding that it was the same clash that extended to the Owode-Elede area of the state.

He said, “Miscreants are the ones clashing around Mile 12 and Owode-Elede, and one person has been killed. The miscreants have also been attacking people going about their business and the areas are currently tensed.

“They also attacked BRT buses and some of the passengers had to run helter-skelter to escape the attack.”

A picture showing the corpse of a person suspected to have been killed during the clash was seen lying on the floor.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Communications, Primero Transport Services Limited, Mutiu Yekeen, operators of the Bus Rapid Transit system, said operations along the axis had been halted to keep passengers safe, adding that a busman, who sustained an injury during the attack, had been taken to hospital for treatment.

Yekeen stated, “One of our buses was attacked around 11am at Mile 12. When the bus was attacked, our passengers ran for safety. So, the driver was attacked with a machete and he was injured in the process, but he quickly zoomed off. After he escaped, we got the information and quickly swung into action by suspending all operations along the route.

“We proactively returned all passengers to our terminal in Ikorodu, because the safety of our commuters is our top priority. To keep our passengers safe, we have stopped operations for today.”

Reacting to the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said, “The miscreants have been clashing among themselves in that area and the clash does not have anything to do with the #EndSARS protest. We have moved in and our patrolmen have responded swiftly.

“Normalcy has been restored but we still have our patrolmen on the ground to make sure that the miscreants don’t take advantage of the clash to extort money from members of the public. We are still investigating to ascertain the cause of the clash.”

When asked about the death recorded, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the command was not aware of any death, adding that the fight was between two factions of gangsters around the Owode Onirin area of the state.

Adejobi added, “The CP has ordered the Area Commander, Area ‘H’, Ogudu, and other operational outfits especially, the RRS and the task force, to beam their searchlight on the area for necessary anti-crime strategies. We are not aware of any corpse and we cannot confirm any death since we didn’t receive information about any corpse.”