The Residents of three communities in Ikorodu area of Lagos State have urged Marine Police to intensify its surveillance to save them from suspected militants who were ravaging the area through the waters.
The residents, from Igbo-Olomu, Elepete and Logbologbo communities, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
They said that they had been under siege by the suspected militants for over two weeks and had lost many of their valuables to the hoodlums, including houses and domestic animals.
Narrating their ordeal, they said that the hoodlums come into the communities in the late hours of the night to attack them.
They added that the situation had forced many of them to relocate to other communities.
One of them, who pleaded anonymity, said that “these militants come in from the water around 8.30 p.m. every day; we don’t even know where they come in from.
We want intelligence policing in this area, we want marine police also that will be on the waterways 24 hours”.
A source in the area said the suspected militants had resorted to destroying properties of residents who had relocated and taking their valuable away with them.
From Igbo-Olomu to Elepete is now deserted; I have taken my wife and my children to one of my relatives place to stay.
Elepte phase one and Igbo-Olomu presently do not have a single human being in them and this is affecting other communities too.
The suspected militants had resorted to breaking into the house of some of the residents who had relocated and making away with their household properties.
They will destroy their burglary proof and enter into their house and destroy properties and even go with some,” he said.
Another resident, who simply identified himself as Mufutau, said that the suspected militants had also kidnapped members of the community and asked for ransom from their families.
They now kidnap people on a daily basis and ask for ransom.
One of the victims was released on Monday after he spent seven days with these suspects in the creek.
People who take the ransom to them go into the creeks, they know them, but because of the threats, they won’t give information about the hoodlums.
The families of victims that do not come up with ransom early enough get beaten and injured by these hoodlums,” he said.
He said that the victim had been on admission since he had been released due to the level of injuries he sustained.
Confirming the incident, another resident said that police presence in the area was not doing enough to protect the area.
We have two police check points from Igbo-Olomu to Logbogbo, and what they do is to stop commercial motorcyclist and motorists to extort money.
When it is seven O’clock we won’t see them again.
When we complain about the attacks to the police, they will tell us that they were asked to mount the checkpoints and not run after the suspected militants into the creeks.”
Meanwhile, the residents disclosed that the hoodlums had threatened to invade the communities again next week.