Residents of Iludun town in the New Oko-Oba Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) via Fagba area of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State have called on the state government to intervene and restore safety and security to their community.
Community members however expressed their distress, reporting that miscreants operating along the railway corridor and near Iludun market have been responsible for at least 10 deaths in recent times.
During a field visit by HeapNews, Engr. Amos Adu, a resident and community leader who has been a victim of these attacks, lamented the situation. “The security there is very porous and we cannot even move freely in the evening time, towards closing hours and early in the morning when people are going to work. You get some hoodlums attacking people, stealing telephones, pocket picking and so on and so forth. So, the area is very dangerous.”
Adu, who serves as the Chairman of the Iludun Board of Trustees (BoT), stated further that, “We thank God that recently, the task force came there to flush the people away but then they have returned to occupy the whole railway line corridor. The shanty they built up there was destroyed, burnt but they have started building up other shanties with cloth, mat, and all kinds of things. So, it is very dangerous and everybody is afraid, especially at night when people are returning from work.”
He further shared a personal incident: “Myself, one day my telephone was stolen there. And I had to block my line. I am not the only victim, it has happened to so many people.”
Surveyor Oluremi Faotomi, another BoT member, also recounted his harrowing experience: “My daughter was attacked there also. They used to kill somebody there, they attacked people with daggers, and stole their belongings.” He recalled an incident where miscreants attacked and killed commuters after robbing them. “There are many of them on the road there and people start running after them, they will vanish.”
High Chief Babatunde Coker, Baale of Iludun Town, highlighted the long-standing issue of hoodlums invading the railway corridor. “The Lagos state Taskforce has been here, and the hoodlums have been once flushed out from the railway corridor but they have now moved back again on the other side that is close to the market. There is a market over there and at the wall of this market, they are now laying siege against the community. So, we still want the government to go and flush them from that place where they are. It is not only that they are attacking our community, they use the railway line as their excreting corridor. They defecate everywhere on the corridor making the area an eyesore, sometimes, they even sleep on the corridor and if anybody is coming through Iju road to our community, the person will be attacked and raped.”
Coker acknowledged the local government’s efforts: “At this time, we thank the local government because they are able to put some security measures here to assist us; otherwise they would have pitched their tent on the rail corridor. But at the other side is the back of the market facing the railway line. The LCDA assisted us because they employed securities.”
Despite these measures, the miscreants continue to pose a threat to the lives and properties of the residents. The community leaders are urging the government to intervene again to clear the shanties along the railway corridor, as the presence of the miscreants is depriving residents and commuters of peace of mind.