Residents of Pako-Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos, said the Monday clash among hoodlums, which left two people dead, was actually a battle for supremacy between two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
Following the death of two persons on Monday, the NURTW faction members from Aguda and Ijesha areas were said to have regrouped on Tuesday, even as they reportedly deployed gunfire that sent shivers down the spines of residents.
A popular online news had reported that two persons — Timileyin Odulana and one Alagodo — died during the clash that had been ongoing for a week.
The deceased, including scores of other injured persons, were alleged to be factional groups of the NURTW in both the Aguda and the Ijesha areas of the state.
The factional groups were said to be fighting over the leadership of an NURTW park in the area.
A resident, who identified himself simply as Segun, told our Correspondent that on Tuesday, around 6am, hoodlums from the Ijesha area, in a bid to avenge the death of one of the victims, stormed the Pako Aguda area again and engaged their opponents in a cascade of gunshots.
Segun said residents heard gunfire on Monday evening and also on Tuesday morning, adding that residents scampered for safety during the crisis.
He said, “The hoodlums attacked one another around 9pm at Cassette Bus Stop in Aguda on Monday, and this morning (Tuesday), I saw people running helter-skelter for safety when the hoodlums started fighting again.
“People have not been able to do their normal business and that has been the situation for some time.”
But a source said the policemen that were stationed at strategic locations in the area intervened to restore normalcy, adding that the hoodlums involved in the clash were NURTW members fighting over a commercial park.
The source said, “The hoodlums continued the fight this morning. They came in from Ijesha into the Mobile filling station around the Pako-Aguda area, to engage one another.
“The fight is because of an NURTW park, as we have been hearing that one of the NURTW leaders in the state wants to impose a chairman to take over their park and they are resisting it by fighting.”
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said no casualty was recorded during the invasion on Tuesday, as the stiff resistance of the Police that had been deployed in the area prevented the hoodlums from carrying out the attack.
Elkana said, “Early in the morning around 6am, hoodlums from the Ijesha area who were on the run, regrouped, came from their hideouts and attempted to attack the Aguda boys, but they were met with stiff resistance from the Police team that was deployed in that area on Monday.
“No casualty was recorded today because they had no opportunity to operate.
“The hoodlums were in large number, and we have continued with our patrol and surveillance in the area.
“We have created a buffer zone between the two communities to prevent the hoodlums from both the Ijesha and Aguda areas from crossing over to cause havoc until the peace process is concluded.
“They are not NURTW members because the hostility has been built over time between the two communities and there is a need for a multidimensional approach involving government and local authorities to find out the root cause of the hostility between the two communities.”
