Again, Ikorodu Residents Lynch Three Suspected Members of Badoo

• Police arrest 100

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

Barely two days after three suspected members of Badoo, a notorious ritualist gang were hacked to death at Ogijo, Igbo-Oluwo area of Ikorodu, three other suspects were yesterday burnt alive.

 Three suspected young men believed to be Badoo members were burnt in the morning at the Odonginya area of Ikorodu by angry residents.

The residents who were fed up with the incessant ritual killings by the gang, decided to take laws into their hands by exerting jungle justice on any member of the gang they arrest.

According to the residents, their anger was that the ritualist gang had at the last count killed over 29 persons in Ikorodu, Lagos State in 15 attacks between June 5, 2016, to June 29, 2017.

Aggrieved at the perceived lackadaisical attitude of the police to their plight, the residents have since turned to judge and jury, as they usually kill off any member of the gang they catch instead of handing them over to the police.

So when they caught up with the suspects yesterday, they quickly burnt them alongside their purported operational vehicle, a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

According to eyewitness account, the deceased persons, dressed like bouncers, were in their SUV when they were stopped by local vigilantes at Odongiyan for interrogations.

During the preliminary interrogations, the men said they were on their way to tow a broken down vehicle.

Still suspicious, the vigilantes insisted on searching  their SUV, and they found three big stones, which is synonymous with the weaponry of the dreaded Badoo gang.

This discovery made the local vigilantes to raise an alarm, which roused the residents of the area, who rallied round and burnt the men alive without recourse to justice.

This incident is coming at the heels of the massive raid and arrest of about 100 persons by a joint operation of the Rapid Response Squad, (RRS), Department of State Services, (DSS), Lagos State Taskforce, and Local Vigilante groups.

The joint taskforce who raided blackspots in Ikorodu like  Igbobo/Bayeku, Ibeshe, Ijede and Imota, were led by Deputy Commissioner of police, in-charge of operations, Edgal Imohinmi.

Before the raid kicked off at Ibeshe on Saturday evening, a joint brief was held at Ipakodo division

and was presided over by Imohimi and the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu.

 Confirming the operation, the state Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous–Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said about 40 police and RRS vehicles were used.

 He said the exercise was part of the ongoing efforts to rid the state of the activities of the dreaded cult group.

 He said: “We can confirm the arrest of 100 suspected members of the dreaded cult group, Badoo and they are helping with ongoing investigation into the activities of the gang.

 “Government is on top of the situation and we like to use this medium to caution the people to desist from jungle justice.

 “We also like to assure residents that they are free to go about their normal activities without hindrance, as the police and other security agencies are poised to make the state hot for criminal elements to perpetrate their nefarious activities.”

 

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