Three killed, 10 injured in Ijegun riot

Three scavengers were killed in Ijegun, a Lagos suburb by persons described as Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) members.
Ten others are said to be critically ill in hospital after being shot.
In Mushin, a bus conductor was hit by bullet during a gang war between Alamutu and Idi-Oro boys.
The Ijegun killings sparked a riot as other scavengers gathered to fight OPC members who were allegedly demanding money from them for operating in the area.
Their refusal to yield to the demand was said to have led to the killings.

The sounds of gunshot was said to have forced schools and businesses to quickly shut down.
The protesting scavengers expressed frustrations over alleged harassment, intimidation and extortion by the OPC members.
They allegedly contacted their colleagues in other parts of the state, who came to join them to attack the OPC’s security post.
They reportedly brandished dangerous weapons and were moving to destroy other OPC offices in the area when policemen led by Area M Commander, Austin Akika, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) arrived.
It was gathered that over 10 police vans were stationed in the community and riot policemen deployed in strategic areas.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the injured were taken to Eniola Hospital, Isheri-Oshun.
The traditional ruler of Ijegun, Oba Nureni Akinremi, told NAN that police men from Area ‘M’ Command were invited to quell the clash which disrupted commercial activities in the area for several hours.
“I did not allow the clash to escalate so I called a combined police team from Isheri Osun, Ikotun and Area `M’, Idimu to restore normalcy,” he said.
Scores were injured and many shops destroyed in the Mushin gang war. It took the intervention of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and the police to restore calm.
Sixty-eight persons were arrested over the skirmish. Six bags of Indian hemp were recovered from some of the suspects.
They were paraded at the Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Task Force) office in Oshodi.
The 20-year-old conductor, Wariz Alimi, who was hit on the chest, was rushed to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) by our reporter. He said: “I just returned from Oshodi where I went to look for my boss, who is a driver. My friend told me that we should play around; as we were moving towards Idi-Oro, we discovered they were fighting and there were sounds of gunshot everywhere. I had not even gone far when a bullet brushed through my chest. Please don’t let me die. I don’t know the cause of the fight. My grandma is in Ibadan, I have to go there, don’t let me die,” he said.
He pleaded to be discharged after being treated, despite having “deep wounds.”
Alimi said cultists at Idi-Araba could lynch him if they knew a Mushin guy was admitted in LUTH.
According to him, Mushin and Idi-Araba gangs have banned themselves from each other’s territory.
He said he has no home in Lagos, but sleeps at a place called Ghetto in Idi-Oro.
“My mum is dead and all I have is my Grandma. I have no links to any family member,” Alimi said.