- Law-abiding citizens in Lagos, Ogun deserve protection from armed gangs
Strikes by armed gangs is not strange to Lagos, even at the best of times. When street urchins who go by the appellation ‘area boys’ are not harassing, threatening and picking pockets of road users, armed gangs are waiting for the cover of the night to descend on neighbourhoods, wreaking havoc.
The most notorious of the gangs are the ‘Awawa boys’ operating in and around Agege, and the ‘One million boys’ who have no jurisdiction, but move from one part of the state to another.
There are also the notorious cults. The ‘Badoo’ once reigned freely, spilling blood, smashing skulls and throwing households into mourning, especially in Ikorodu area. There were also the campus based cults with active cells in tertiary institutions in the boisterous city.
It is, therefore, no surprise that the youth groups could not be kept indoor for so long. Last week, they invaded the streets, moving menacingly about in the day, and breaking into homes and shops at night.
The people living in Agege, Akowonjo, Ikotun, Abaranje, Igando, and Ipaja/Ayobo areas soon found themselves keeping vigil, with various sizes of machete at night to ward off the marauders.
In areas that border Ogun State, like Abule Egba, Alakuko, Alagbado, Iju- Ishaga and Ifako, too, there has been no peace. Towns along the Lagos border in Ogun State were not spared as Lambe, Akute, Agbado, Ota, Ifo, and others along that flank were not spared either.
They, as poorly armed as they were, turned out at night to keep the enemies at bay. It’s a surprise that the law enforcement agencies did not anticipate the security implications of the lockdown. These were boys who, in normal times lived off extortion and pounced on distressed motorists at night.
We expected the brass hats In the security forces to have brainstormed on how to keep them at bay during the lockdown.
As usual, the political and security officials preferred to be reactive than proactive. When those confronted by the menace cried out for help, the police commands in the two states chose to deny, dismissing the outcry as unfounded.
It took consistent outcry, bonfires on the roads and other telltale signs that much was going wrong for commanders of the police, the armed forces and the Department of State Security to embark on road shows in the areas, with a view to warning the gangs to stay off.
Even then, the boys shifted base and focus to highbrow Lekki/Ajah axis of Lagos and middle income Surulere and Festac Town.
The war is not over. While we refuse to buy the excuse that the strikes were motivated by hunger as government palliatives were not far-reaching enough, the two states should make efforts to mobilise all segments of the society to buy into the COVID-19 lockdown.
It is good that the Inspector-General of Police has sent the Mobile Force, reinforced the Anti-Robbery Squad, Inspector-General Response Team and the Special Forces to the former federal capital that remains the commercial capital, but more must be done through moral suasion.
Keeping active young men indoors can never be easy; it therefore calls for the carrot-and-stick approach. This should be carefully worked out.
The police and civil authorities should engage the traditional institution, community leaders and youth groups in the areas with a view to stamping out the menace. The situation provides an opportunity to get the jobless youths profiled for payment of stipends, thus aiding crime fighting, even after the lockdown.
Those who turn down the carrots should be made to face the full wrath of the law. Protection of all law-abiding citizens is the primary duty of government.
