Lagos Assembly orders investigation into Otodo-Gbame ‘killings’

Lagos State lawmakers have ordered investigation into the alleged killings and destruction of property in Otodo-Gbame in Ikate- Elegushi area of the state last weekend.

The action followed a mass protest to the state House of Assembly by aggrieved residents of the area, who have alleged continuing harassment and intimidation of members of their community by the police.

Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the House of Assembly set up a five-man committee, headed by Sanai Agunbiade (majority leader), with a mandate to investigate the matter and establish the truth.

Protesting residents of Ikate-Elegushi stormed the Assembly complex on Tuesday, and blocked entrances, preventing vehicles from moving in and out, until they were dispersed by security men. The protesters alleged destruction of their property by those they called “agents of the state government”.

The group, which included women and children, urged the lawmakers to save them from alleged harassment by officers from a police station near to their community. Bokoh Oluwole, spokesperson of the protesters and a leader in the community, alleged ill treatment of the residents. Oluwole further alleged that suspected hoodlums went to the community on November 8, and destroyed property worth millions of naira.

He added that the hoodlums set property ablaze while victims who ran into the water for safety met their death, with some missing. “No fewer than 400 houses were burnt. We have since recovered three bodies from the water. We are still looking for five more people. “They did not give us a single notice, we just saw them claiming ownership of the land and there is no court judgment on the matter”, he said.

The speaker, Obasa, warned that the Assembly would not condone extra judicial killings in the state by security men. He said that the action of the protesters necessitated the constitution of a committee to investigate the matter.