Palpable tension currently pervades the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) community over a recent cult attack, which claimed the lives of a student and one of the institution’s security guards.
The institution, for some years now, has been enjoying uninterrupted peace and zero cult attack but the recent incident, which took place around the institution’s vicinity on October 6, 2016, constitute a major concern for the security and peace of the Ikorodu campus of the institution.
According to reports, the deadly attack, which took place between Tuesday, October 4 and Thursday, October 6, 2016 at about 8:30p.m, was carried out by suspected cultists in the Lambo Lasunwon area of Ikorodu, which share proximity with the First Gate (Main Entrance) of LASPOTECH, and claimed the lives of three people, including a final year student of Mass Communication of the institution, Babatunde Ogundeji, his friend, who was ‘identified as Tunji as well as Mr. Adedokun Olatunji, a security staff in the institution.
Oriwu Sun learnt that late Babatunde and his friends were returning to their home from a bar where they had gone to relax that fateful night when some cultists who were suspected to be member of Aye confraternity shot at them.
While Babatunde and his friend were reported to have died on the spot, other people, who were allegedly caught by the gun shot were said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.
Also, it was learnt that the deceased security staff, who was at the scene of the attack in mufti, was shot by the cultists.
A source in the community, who did not want his name in print, explained that there have been a rivalry war between two cult groups, Aye and Eye confraternities, in the area in the last few years while members of these two groups have resorted to killing one another in the area almost every day lately.
He also confirmed that apart from the LASPOTECH student, his friend and a security guard of the institution, who were killed, a number of other people were equally injured in the attack.
The source, however, urged the relevant law enforcement agents to do the needful urgently by apprehending those responsible for the attack and also bring the already tensed situation in the area under control to prevent any reprisal attack.
Meanwhile, since the attack took place, stories had been making the rounds that up to five people were killed in the attack including an ICT lecturer and another man said to be preparing for his wedding the next day.
But in a swift reaction, the Public Relations Manager of the Polytechnic, Mr. Lanre Kuye, told Oriwu Sun that only two people were killed and they were murdered outside the polytechnic gate.
According to him, the gun men, suspected to be cultists, arrived the First Gate area of the institution at about 8:30p.m on three motorcycles and opened fire on a security man, who had closed for the day and was heading home, as well as an HND(3) part time student, also heading home after the day’s work. The security man was identified as Adetunji Adedokun while the student’s name is Babatunde Ogundeji.
Mr. Kuye reaffirmed that no lecturer was killed and none of those two victims was gunned down within the school compound. He said that the attack seemed like a mistaken one as it was heard that few days earlier, there had been confrontations in the area by rival cult groups. It appeared that the killers of these two people came from one of the rival groups in search of their targets but seemed to have shot the wrong people.
He confirmed that the polytechnic authorities promptly reported the matter to the police, who are now conducting their own investigations.
On the shutting down of Second Gate and the Polytechnic Primary School, the spokesman said because a gun shot was heard few days to this tragic day, the authorities took a precautionary measure to shut the Second Gate for the safety of the school children. No one, he said, has yet identified any of these killers but the situation in the institution has now returned to normal.