*Inset photo is for illustrative purposes only*
It has been reported that more than 100 people were allegedly injured, while no fewer than 50 vehicles were vandalised as tension erupted in the Lafiaji area of Lagos Island in Lagos State on Monday after some hoodlums engaged in a shootout with policemen from the Lion Building division.
According to reports, the Monday clash started with a supremacy fight on Saturday between two rival groups in the area after a politician reportedly gave out some money, which was allegedly not well shared among the groups.
The aggrieved faction was said to have gone on the rampage on Saturday, damaging property and hacking people with cutlasses. The affected streets include Oshodi, Okepopo, Ajanaku, Glover and Tokunbo.
It took the intervention of military officers from the Quick Response Group, 55 Battalion, Bony Camp, Victoria Island, before calm could be restored to the area on Monday.
Bola Ajidagba, a resident, told a correspondent that the community had been under siege before the intervention, adding that people were held hostage in their homes.
"This madness started around 1:00am on Saturday. There was noise of gunshots throughout the night. By morning, they had started damaging vehicles and cutting one another with cutlasses.
"Sunday was worse. It was like war. We could not come out of our homes. Those boys had all kinds of weapons and the guns they had were sophisticated. Even the police had to retreat at a point."
It was learnt that the fight continued on Monday as schoolchildren could not go to school. A pupil in one of the secondary schools in the area said majority of her classmates did not show up in school.
"We were in school today when our teachers came to tell us they had started shooting again. She said we should stay quiet. We were released to go home around 2pm, instead of the 3.30pm that we normally close," she said.
A community leader, who pleaded not to be named, said over 50 vehicles were damaged. "A politician gave them money to share and that was the genesis of this crisis.
"They damaged over 50 cars. The police could not handle the hoodlums. They were moving from one street to another, destroying people’s property. It was the soldiers that came to end the clash this morning. If not, they would still be shelling by now."
He asked the police to arrest one Michael Jagar, whom he claimed knew about the fight.
Hammed Okunuga, a former councillor in the community and the Chairman of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Lagos Island chapter, commended the police for their efforts, adding that Jagar was not to blame for the crisis, and that it was a supremacy battle that had been on for a long time.
"There are two groups in this area. There is a group from Foresight and Okesuna streets and another from Agbole. Agbole consists of Loius, Simpson, Down Olly and Igbosere streets. The Agbole boys attacked Foresight/Okesuna twice and those ones later retaliated.
"Jagar, who is a community leader, tried to appease the two groups, which were engaged in a supremacy clash, but they refused. They faced the police in a shootout and the female Divisional Police Officer in Lion Building was almost stabbed. The military later came to support the police. More than 100 people were injured and the cars damaged cannot be less than 50."
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the clash, adding that some suspects had been arrested. "No death was recorded and some arrests have been made. The command will not spare anyone found culpable."
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