New Telegraph

Death toll in Mile 12 crisis rises to three as police arrest 48

More facts have emerged on what led to the killing of three people when a section of the Hausa community rose against another at Gengere community, Mile 12 Market, Lagos State. Yesterday, the police said they had arrested 48 suspects in connection with the crisis. This came as one person was killed yesterday in the area bringing the number of those killed to three. The clash started last Friday when the commander of a security guard, Banga, employed to secure the community was accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad which didn’t go down well with other Hausa in the community.

The youth said they didn’t want the commander of the security guard in the community anymore because he allegedly said nobody could remove him. They also accused the commander of collecting illegal fees from traders in the community. This, however, did not go down well with Alhaji Memuda, who employed him to work in the community with his boys. A resident of the community, Abdulahi Haruna, said on Friday, some youths confronted Memuda and told him they did not want Banga anymore.

According to Haruna, the youth asked Memuda to replace Banga. He said: “After Jumat prayer on Friday, the commander came into the community and boosted that not even Prophet away from the community. “Alhaji Memuda and lhaji Chindo were invited to Area H Command at Ogudu where they were arrested and detained, in order to allow peace to reign. Unfortunately, some of his boys were threatening to come back into the community to start their work. We have told them we don’t want them again. Policemen then came into the community on Saturday and arrested about 75 innocent people.” Another resident of the Gengere community said after the warring leaders had been arrested and detained, people in the community returned to their businesses.

He said: “On Thursday morning, about 3am, when they were preparing to eat for fasting, a Niger Republic national, Halilu, came into the community and killed a Yoruba boy in order to give it an ethnic colouration. “We the Hausa youths went after him after we heard about the incident. We caught him where he was hiding and handed him over to the policemen under bridge at Mile 12.

“We youths don’t want unnecessary clashes at Mile 12 anymore, because we have no other place to run to. We cannot go back to our home states because of insecurity. Now we see Lagos as our home. That is why we don’t want a crisis, because that’s where we are making our living from. We want peace in Lagos State. “After we have apprehended him, we asked who sent him to kill the person he killed. He confessed that he was sent by someone but he didn’t mention the person’s name. Unfortunately, policemen came back into the community and arrested and detained innocent people in police custody. Sodiq was the Yoruba killed on Thursday (yesterday), while Shuibu and Abdulahi were killed on Friday during the first clash.

“Since Friday, some of their friends are still in the hospital receiving treatment over the injuries they sustained from the clash. We can’t tolerate someone abusing our prophet; that was part of the reasons we said we didn’t want the commander and his boys in the community any longer.” The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement yesterday that in furtherance of the command’s commitment to maintain law and order at Gengere community, Mile 12, the command had arrested 48 suspects in connection with the crisis that broke out between some hoodlums about 1am on Thursday May 6. Adejobi said in the course of investigation, it was discovered that Aliyu Shuaibu stabbed Sadiq Oloyo, both of Gengere community, and lost their lives before any medical attention could be given to them. As a result of the incident, some hoodlums, on reprisal, went on the rampage and caused commotion in the area.

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