Ikorodu is boiling over as residents in different communities set the area on fire every night in protest against the serial killings by a wicked group called ‘Badoo cult’, who have killed in less than one year nearly 30 persons comprising families of various numbers.
Landlords, tenants, women and children have been keeping vigil across many areas of Ikorodu division, setting up bonfires, burning tyres, patrolling and chanting out Badoo songs to protest the apparent failure of security agencies and traditional institutions to arrest the situation.
The killing of a family of five at Odogunyan on Tuesday night, 27th June, 2017, has provoked series of protests by Igede women (Benue State) to the Palace of Oba of Ikorodu, His Majesty, Oba Kabir Shotobi, as well as the 174 Battalion and Police Station. They condemned the elimination of a family of five by the Badoo group, who are said to use either a grinding stone or a pestle to kill their victims before they rape or take the blood and other parts of the victims for their rituals.
Since the beginning of this year, when this monstrous trend became a frequent occurrence, starting from Ibeshe down to other locations across the division including neighbouring Ogijo in Ogun State, many residents no longer sleep at night as they keep vigil for several hours to forestall any untoward incident. Residents’ have been accusing NEPA/PHCN of complicity in these killings as they have not been providing power, especially at night. Hence, youths vandalized PHCN facilities at 2ND Gate near Lagos State Polytechnic at the end of June, plunging the area into further darkness.
By Sunday, July 2, 2017, when residents of Odogunyan axis revolted and killed four suspected Badoo cultists, the whole Ikorodu North, Ita-Oluwo, Ogijo and other adjoining areas have been on fire. Many tenants and some house owners are fleeing from Ikorodu to safer places in the state. There is fear, suspicions and frustration on the part of the populace. Almost everyday, reports of Badoo killings, to the lynching of Badoo suspects by residents abound. Soldiers have been trickling in to help prevent anarchy and the declaration of a state of emergency, which many residents have been calling for.
As at July 6, people had lost count of the number of Badoo causalities as unconfirmed news filtered in that 15 persons from three families were allegedly killed in Agbede area of Ikorodu West, prompting speculations that this was Boko Haram in disguise. The arrest of 138 suspected Badoo cultists by the police, who are still in the process of screening them, has not doused tension nor reduced the killings.