INSIDEMAINLAND– There was tension on Sunday as suspected cultists raided the Ijeshatedo neighborhood of Surulere, Lagos Mainland, and vandalized numerous vehicles.
According to reports, the hoodlums were looking for a drug dealer in the neighborhood but did not find him.
This enraged them, and they were said to have destroyed vehicles on Ehi and Akewukewe streets around 1 a.m.
The alleged drug dealer was discovered to be the son of an Ehi Street landlord.
Narrating the ordeal, one of the residents lamented that all of the cars parked on the roadside of both streets were vandalized.
“It is unfortunate and people are bitter,” he added.
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, stated that the state emergency numbers were called before the incident escalated.
He said, “The cultists came around 1 am and invaded Ehi and Akewukewe streets. Every vehicle on the two streets was vandalized; windscreens were shattered and I can say this was done to almost 100 vehicles.
“We called the Lagos emergency numbers and they promised that men of the Rapid Response Squad would be there but they didn’t show up, so those cultists had a field day destroying cars.
“Even till now, nobody has shown up; all we are left with are damaged cars; people will have to start counting their losses and see what they can salvage.
“We learned that those who perpetrated the act were cultists; they came with machetes and guns. People are bitter about the whole thing.
“They actually came for a young man who deals in drugs. When they did not find him, they vented their anger on the cars on the two streets, leaving the owners to bear the pain.”
CSP Yinka Egbeyemi, Commander of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad, stated that residents did not call the unit directly.
He said, “You’ll call the people in charge of the emergency numbers, there’s no way they will give us the call without us answering. If there is anything concerning an emergency, it goes directly to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and they direct it to us.”
Nosa Okunbor, the Public Relations Officer for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency kept mum on the issue.
Benjamin Hundeyin, the state Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated.
He said, “Yes, I was informed of the incident after it happened and we are looking into it. We will not allow miscreants to wreak havoc in any part of Lagos. On the allegation that they called the police and no one showed up, we’re also looking into it to know what went wrong and for service delivery to be improved.”
