Curbing Gang Wars

In the last one month, Mushin, Lagos State, South West Nigeria has played host to brutal gang wars among rival cult groups and street urchins, popularly known as area boys. The peace in the area has since been breached as residents now live in fear, not knowing when next the dare-devil cultists would strike.

For too long, Mushin had been the home of area boys, the down-trodden, criminals and hoodlums. The area ranks in notoreity with Oshodi and Lagos Island. The volatile nature of the area was effectively managed until recently when violence was ignited by cult groups.

Sporadic shootings are now common in the area, especially in places such as Idi-Oro and Akala, among others. In broad daylight, hoodlums armed with sophisticated weapons unleash terror on residents, destroying properties and maiming innocent people.

In one of the gang wars late last year, a nine-year-old girl was killed. The little girl’s body was riddled with bullets.

Recently, an Imam was killed along with 10 others in the crisis. Many were injured as the hoodlums shot sporadically at people. There was pandemonium in the area as people ran helter and skelter to avoid being caught in the brutal war.

As a result of the ongoing situation, night life has disappeared in Mushin as residents and traders now stay indoors as early as 7 p.m. to avoid being caught in the war.

Some residents in the area have blamed politicians for the bloody clashes among cult groups and factional members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW. They alleged that politicians in Mushin were using the groups to unleash terror on innocent citizens.

One of the residents said that there was need for government to find a permanent solution to the menace posed by hoodlums in the area.

“Whenever policemen are drafted to maintain the peace, immediately the policemen depart, the boys would come out again and start shooting and maiming innocent citizens. The government should ensure that policemen and other security agents are permanently deployed to the area to stop the gang war,” a resident stated.

The recurring crisis in Mushin has attracted a lot of publicity, perhaps, because of the perceived political undertone, coupled with the dastardly act being perpetrated by the belligerent forces.

The main characters in the Mushin disturbances are said to be one Toba and a septuagenarian, Alado, as well as the Akala boys at Idi-Oro who are said to be involved in the supremacy battle.

Concerned Lagosians have concluded that except drastic measures are taken by the appropriate security agencies and stakeholders in the area, residents of the area would continue to be terrorised by these hoodlums.

Efforts by the police to nip the crisis in the bud had yielded little efforts. About 16 persons had been arrested and arraigned in court in connection with the mayhem but only one of them has been convicted.

Be that as it may, the remote and immediate causes of the crisis must be unravelled to prevent an aggravation of the crisis. It is important to note, however, that the main actors in the crisis have not been arrested and prosecuted. The gang members have for the meantime gone into hiding only to strike when there are security lapses.

To curtail the Mushin crisis, the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration has vowed to deal ruthlessly with members of the gang fomenting trouble in the area. The government said their game was up and that it was moving in to quell the crisis and ensure absolute peace in the area, adding that a situation where a few individuals took laws into their hands was no longer acceptable.

An emergency meeting was held last week to find a solution to the crisis. At the meeting which took place at the Secretariat of the Mushin Local Government were officials of the state government, Area “D” Police Commander, Mushin; Commander, Rapid Response Squad; all the Divisional Police Officers in Mushin; Lagos State Chairman, Task Force; Operation MESSA; State Security Service, SSS, Community and Religious leaders and stakeholders in Mushin.

The government said it was more resolved now than ever to get to the root of the crisis, pointing out that it was only a matter of time before all those fomenting trouble in the area as well as their sponsors would be caught by the long arms of the law.

“We are sending an unequivocal message to the miscreants, cultists and their sponsors that their game is up as we have decided to ruthlessly deal with them. We are giving them the opportunity to voluntarily rescind violence, cultism and turn in their arms while the recalcitrant ones will face the full weight of the law,” said the government in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.

The communiqué was issued after a five-hour meeting between security chiefs in the area, as the government vowed to restore peace to the troubled area and warned miscreant to steer clear or face the full wrath of the law.

“We will take every measure to allay the fears of the residents of any resurgence of the crisis,” it said, adding that it would also consolidate the confidence of the populace in government that their problems are being addressed. It also resolved to keep the miscreants in perpetual hiding as they were doing at the moment, realizing that the security agents were on their trail.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga