Two of the hoodlums, terrorising the Elegbata area on the Lagos Island, Lukman Kayode, 29; and 19-year-old Olusegun Ayanniyi, have been arrested after they reportedly attacked some policemen.
A sergeant, Tunde Adeyemi, was stabbed in the head during the attack, which lasted for about 30 minutes.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the policemen from the Area A Command, Lion Building, had mobilised to the area after receiving a distress call on the likelihood of a clash between two rival gangs in the community.
It was gathered that the team, which comprised about six cops, stormed a stadium in the community, where members of one of the two groups had converged.
The thugs reportedly brought out cutlasses and pursued the cops who fled to safety in different directions. Adeyemi was, however, not lucky as they descended on him and beat him up.
They were said to have smashed bottles on his head, hit him with a cutlass and made away with his phones and money, leaving him in a pool of blood.
The police team later reinforced and went back to the area during which the two suspects were apprehended while their members fled.
A resident, who identified himself as Kadri Alasela, said the hoodlums had turned the community to a battlefield for peace-loving residents.
He said, “Last Tuesday, around 9.30pm, we noticed that the gangs were hanging around with weapons and we alerted policemen from the Area A Command. The policemen stormed the Elegbata Stadium, where members of a gang had gathered, but the members chased the officers with cutlasses.
“The gang got one of the policemen and stabbed him in the head. They fled when blood started gushing out. Most of the boys are jobless and what they know best is to foment trouble.”
Another resident, who did not want his name in print, said the motive behind the gangs’ attacks on one another was usually baseless, urging the government to intensify efforts to rid the area of miscreants.
“Some of them (hoodlums) cashed in on the violence to rob traders and passersby. If you criticise them, you have become their enemies and potential target,” he added.
The two suspects were on Tuesday arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court by a police prosecutor, Inspector I. Okeke, on five counts bordering on assault and stealing.
The charges read in part, “That you, Lukman Kayode, Oluwasegun Ayanniyi, and others at large, on April 26, 2016, at about 9.30pm at the back of a mini stadium in Elegbeta, Lagos Island, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Sergeant Tunde Adeyemi by beating him with fist blows, breaking bottles on his head, hacking him with a cutlass and leaving him in a pool of blood.
“That you and others at large, on the same date time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did steal one Nokia phone worth N15,000, a Techno Y2 valued at N14,000, and cash sum of N20,000 property of one Sergeant Tunde Adeyemi, attached to Area A Command, Lion Building, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 237 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges before the magistrate, Mr. A. Adefulire, while their counsel, Mr. O.O. Akinpelu, applied for their bail on liberal terms.
But the magistrate ordered that the suspects be remanded in prison custody and adjourned till May 16, to decide on the bail application.
(Punch)
No comments:
Post a Comment