Less than four months after the Lagos State Police Command brokered peace between the warring factions in Mushin, fresh crisis erupted in the area on Saturday.In a related development, there were reported cases of violence on Saturday in the Agboyi-Ketu area of the state after a member of the Odua Peoples Congress, Lukman Adio, also known as Simple, was repeatedly stabbed by some hoodlums believed to be members of the same group on Wednesday.Our correspondent, who visited Mushin on Sunday, gathered that four people were injured, six vehicles vandalised and many shops ransacked as rival gangs engaged in supremacy battle for several hours.Pieces of broken glass were still seen littering the area while policemen were on constant patrols. An Armoured Personnel Carrier was also stationed at the entrance of Ojelade Street, Fadeyi.PUNCH METROlearnt that following a meeting organised by the state police command on August 20, 2011, an agreement was reached between the police and the warring parties that each of the rival gang should control one territory as a panacea to peace.The agreement was however breached on Saturday evening, when thugs suspected to be from Ereko and Fadeyi streets, stormed Ojelade, Lawani and Ogidi Lane causing mayhem.An eyewitness, who craved anonymity for fear of reprisal, said some thugs believed to be loyalists of two kingpins identified as Toba Joel and Jaypron carried out the attack.He said, Around 4pm on Saturday, about 60 thugs came to Lawani Street wielding machetes and broken bottles. They vandalised vehicles parked on the road and even entered peoples homes to attack them.While they were doing this, some policemen were nearby but did nothing to stop them. They stood by and watched as the thugs went from one place to another breaking into shops and inflicting injuries on people.Fortunately, no one died. One man, Sola Godspower, was stabbed in the mouth and hands but was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.Godspower, who spoke with our correspondent on his hospital bed, said the thugs operated unhindered.I sat near the Ansar-Ud-Deen Mosque on Ogidi Lane when the thugs came to the area to cause trouble.They came to meet me where I was and stabbed me repeatedly, he said.Another resident, who identified himself simply as Ade, said after the incident the youth in the community had to bribe policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad with N10,000 before they came to patrol the area.A leader of one of the warring factions, who identified himself simply as Toheeb, told our correspondent that Lawani, Ojelade and Kadiri streets had many lucrative businesses, which kingpins from Ereko, Ogunjobi and Fadeyi streets were eager to control.He said, The thugs wanted to control the area so that they can extort money from the business owners. We resisted them and the matter was brought before the state police command.The command ordered that no person should come from another territory to either trespass or harass members of another territory and we all agreed.However, these thugs were obviously dissatisfied with the arrangement and they came to cause mayhem.Toheeb added that the police command had been compromised and was taking sides with the hoodlums.He said, A senior police officer is supporting those thugs. That is why no one is ever arrested. I have a video recording of Saturdays violence, which even shows the part where policemen threw tear gas canisters at us as the thugs laid siege to our street.I think its high time Governor Babatunde Fashola intervened as the chief security officer of the state.It seems the police can no longer handle the situation at Mushin. Thugs now operate in broad daylight. Robbery is now on the increase in Jibowu and Fadeyi. The governor needs to intervene.When contacted, Joel told our correspondent on the telephone that he knew nothing about the incident, adding that he was not even around when it happened.I was at a function when the incident occurred. It was when I got back home in the evening that I learnt that the two groups were fighting on who had the right to levy the owners of a container laden with Plaster of Paris. I cannot be involved in such act. I cant stoop so low as to fight over collection of illegal levies on the streets, he said.Joel also denied that he had the support of a senior police officer to attack residents, saying it was a deliberate ploy to tarnish the image of the police.Similarly, the spokesperson for the state police command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, described the allegation as hogwash.Jinadu said, On Saturday, when we (police) got wind of the violence at Mushin, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, deployed a squad there and our men used tear gas canisters to disperse the hoodlums.No arrest has been made but investigations are ongoing. But no policeman took sides with any hoodlums and no senior policeman is supporting any faction.He, however, confirmed that one person was injured.In the Agboyi-Ketu incident, Adio, who is the coordinator OPC of Igbonla zone, was said to have been accosted at Adisa Akintoye Street by 12 thugs loyal to a man identified simply as Kazeem.Adio was said to have been attacked on his way home after he had gone to resolve difference between two rival groups.It was gathered that Adio, who is recuperating at a hospital, in Agboyi-Ketu, was attacked by members of a faction, who were dissatisfied with the role he played in the crisis.A resident of the community, who craved anonymity, said the police needed to deploy men in the area.
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