Gunmen on Monday night stormed Amodu Street, off the notorious Akala Street, Mushin, Lagos State, South-West Nigeria, killing a woman with eight-month-old pregnancy, Musili Bello, and her 12-year-old daughter, Suliat Olowu.
Akala Street and environs, in the Idi-Oro area of Mushin, is synonymous with crimes and criminalities. “All manners of crimes take place here. Armed robbery, drug pushers, common thief, Yahoo Yahoo boys, rapists, vehicle jackers, you just name it and you would get it at Akala Street, Mushin,” a detective conversant with the area told our correspondent.
It was learnt that a commercial motorcycle rider, identified simply as Baba Monday, was also shot to death in the operation which was said to have lasted for about 20 minutes.
The criminals riddled several houses with bullets and also vandalised some vehicles.
The slain woman’s father, Tajudeen Odusanwo, said that his daughter was shot in the stomach and in the face, while his granddaughter was shot in the head.
He said, “Between 9.30pm and 10pm, my daughter and granddaughter were getting ready to close the shop when some armed thugs from the railway line stormed the street and started shooting sporadically.
“They shot my granddaughter in the head while my daughter, who is eight months pregnant, was shot in the stomach and in the face.”
A relative, who did not identify herself, said, “Suliat (Olowu) was our baby. She was very intelligent and we used to call her Suliat kan, Aiyetoro kan. Her mother, Musili, even though pregnant, had been praying and fasting because she had been warned that something evil might happen.”
At the third victim’s house, his family members were said to have taken his corpse to the mortuary.
The Area D Commander, ACP MD Garba; the Divisional Police Officer, Alakara Police Station, Anthony Okosun; the Officer in charge of Baker Unit, CSP Waheed Ayilara; and the Divisional Police Officer, Mushin Station, Fidelis Okafor; were with about 30 policemen in the area.
The police officers commiserated with the victims’ families and promised to beef up security in Mushin.
Residents, who came out in droves, urged the police to ensure that the culprits were brought to book.
A trader, Olabisi Shodiya, said, “We have been living in fear for too long. Last night, when they stormed our area, many of us hid inside the gutters with our children in order to avoid being hit. We can no longer sleep with our two eyes closed and we want the police to save us.”
An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, said the attackers came from Fadeyi and Ereko streets.
He said many of the culprits had been arrested and charged to court last year for murder but were released under controversial circumstances.
“The guys that invaded our streets were Oriyomi, aka Muda; Lanre Pumping, Mufu Magnet, Sars, Abdul, Monsuru 50 Cent and Aglar,” he said.
It was learnt that Oriyomi and Lanre Pumping had been declared wanted by the Lagos State Police Command, while Aglar had been arrested by the Alakara Police Division.
Policemen from the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Alakara Division and the Area D Command were seen patrolling the adjoining streets of Alhaji Lasisi and Akala.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident, said the police authorities in the state would focus more on the area, with the intention of removing criminals and criminality there.
She added, “For now, we have arrested five suspects in connection with the incident. More will still be done to fish out the culprits.”
Since 2002 that retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Sunday Aghedo, then a Commissioner of Police (CP) in Lagos State Command, raided Akala Street and smoked out criminals of different shades, no other Police Commissioner in the State has been able to dare Akala Street hoodlums.
