40 days after students’ kidnap: Uneasy calm envelops Igbonla-Epe

Once upon not too long ago, the serenity, warmth, and peace, that made Igbonla home for many remained unrivalled. However, trouble came calling when kidnappers invaded the Lagos Model College, sited in the community, striking twice, and successfully too. Today makes it exactly forty days since the last kidnap of six students of the school. KEHINDE OYETIMI, after a visit to the community, reports the bittersweet peculiarities Igbonla presents for the abduction business, and how the infamous kidnap occurrences have rendered the people victims of repeated ‘illegal’ raids, and the community a nagging shadow of itself.

 

The stretch of road that snakes into Igbonla community lacks all the trappings that give off the many sides of the Lagos metropolis: the commotion, chaos, hustle and bustle. It was calming, eerily so.

As one travels into Lagos through Ijebu-Ode reaching Epe, a relatively huge signpost announces Igbonla: mentally distant and in a quiet monologue with itself. Taking a bend off the major road, driving down into the suburb, it becomes particularly difficult to ignore the sedative mood that envelopes the visitor(s). On both sides are long, overarching vegetation sprawled out in undulating terrains. The breezy ambiance tips off the presence of a water body not far off. Indeed, Igbonla gives an intimidatingly unnerving setting. It was not only lonely, it had a lonesome edge.

Until recently, Igbonla had existed with little media attention despite its hosting one of the model colleges of the Lagos State government. However, the community began to draw much notice to itself for the wrong reasons, when, less than a year ago, some gang of kidnappers stormed the Lagos State Model College, located there and abducted the school’s vice principal and four students.

The hue and outcry that followed the successful dastardly operation eventually resulted in the release of the abductees. But a few months after the initial abduction, another followed. A repeat kidnap attempt was made on six students of the school on May 25, 2017. Attempts to secure their freedom have failed as at the time of filing this report, as the kidnappers have asked for monetary ransom before the release of the students.

Unlike many other suburbs of Lagos, Igbonla’s serene atmosphere remains its endearing appeal for any institution of learning. With a vegetative spread that stimulates some closeness to nature, and the presence of the Imeru/Iji waterway that spreads its reach through other parts of the country, it is not therefore hard to find these as attractions. Yet, these strengths of the community have become its undoing.

The Imeru/Iji waterway is part of the Osun River which flows into the Lagoon on the south and heads eastbound to Ikorodu. Igbonla (which translates to a thick forest) is sadly living to its name as its foliage and waterways have been providing an easy getaway for the abductors, with the school sharing some proximity with the waterway.

When Nigerian Tribune visited the community, it was lacking any communal presence. Makeshift houses appeared deserted, very few children ran around with no adult supervision. The length of road that cuts the community in two was less travelled: no car, no motorcycle, no bicycle, no human commuter. The unfrequented road ended its stretch at the bank of the Imeru/Iji waterway, where dredging boats with their operators could be seen. Some sand suppliers who dredge sand were the only ones who provided efforts at announcing any human presence in the community.

‘Igbonla’s topography, waterway make it easy for kidnappers to quickly get away’

One of them, Fatai Mumuni, told the Nigerian Tribune reporter not to be shocked at the almost lifeless condition of Igbonla. “It is very sad. We are very sad at the situation in Igbonla. I have been supplying sand from Igbonla in the last 30 years. It is a lucrative business and many of us are glad to be doing this. The water that flows through here makes sand dredging easy. One of the boats used in ferrying the sand costs as much as N400,000.

What I observed is that because of the plain of the community, it is easy to be the target of any kidnapper. For instance, the waterway here runs behind the school. There is only one road that comes into the community. That road also leads out of it. The waterway that you see flows through to Epe and off it goes.

“The two kidnap occurrences are disturbing to us. The first time the kidnappers came, they took the vice principal of the school with others. We were shocked. But we never expected that the same attempt would be made on the school the second time. When they came few weeks back to carry out the second kidnap, they came in an engine-powered boat. They came through this waterway. They came prepared. We saw them; they were menacing. None dared asked them what they wanted. They had state-of-the-art guns. The row of bullets sat heavily on their chests. The machine guns appeared ready to be used. They passed on while we cautiously watched them. We ensured our eyes never met theirs.

“But with the way things are now, we can’t insist that the government should relocate the school. It should rather provide serious security presence on the waterway. There should be marine police stationed permanently here. If truth be told, it is the presence of the school students that attract any major activity here, whether commercial or otherwise. There are over seven communities around Igbonla.

“When the kidnappers came, they went to a neighbouring village where they carted away farm produce such as already processed bags of cassava and drums of palm oil. Those who resisted were killed. When we saw them, we quietly alerted the police but they didn’t show up until it was too late. The kidnappers stayed on the waterway for five days. It was on the fifth day that they carried out the abduction.”

“Security agents carrying out illegal raids, making illicit money”

Another resident of the community, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that since the sad occurrence, things have nosedived for the dwellers, as many have vacated the suburb. “We have been here for a while. It is sad. We must get marine police presence here. Except that is done, nothing will be achieved. After the kidnap, people no longer have any sense of peace.

Members of the Nigeria Police carry out indiscriminate raids on those of us who have decided to remain in Igbonla. I was arrested and some other

youths. While I was interrogated, I told the police that except there is better security presence, which is permanent, nothing will be achieved. The kidnappers do not come by road; they come through the waterway. It is very easy for them to escape. We are tired of living here at Igbonla; many have relocated as a result of fear. My aged mother has told me repeatedly to vacate this place.

“Unfortunately, the police are making money out of us with the pretense that they are carrying out raids. They come in the day and night and arrest people, and we are forced to give money to get bail. Because of this and the uncertainty here, many people have left. It is a shadow of itself now.”

Another resident, who simply gave her name as Juliana, stated that things had taken a terrible toll for residents. According to her, “My parents have been here for many years. The security situation here is worrying. It is as though we are caged by the topography of this place. There is a waterway that runs behind us and there is just one good road that comes in and out of the community. We lack power supply. No electricity for about seven years. Many people have left Igbonla.”

‘Our lives daily threatened’

Nigerian Tribune, while speaking with a middle-aged woman who simply identified herself as Mummy Nimo, felt the anger and frustration in her tone. “Our troubles are many. We are haunted by security agents as though we are the criminals who carried out the attack. Ever since the kidnap was carried out, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) would frequent our homes, arrest us and make us part with the little that we have to secure bail. I have been here for over 18 years. We fish, farm and some of us supply sand.

“We felt very sad when the first occurrence happened. But when the second one happened, we knew there was cause for us to worry. Before the two abductions, we would go to the river at the middle of the night, bath, fish and go back to our houses. It is no longer so. Our lives daily threatened. We hear sporadic gunshots at night. We can’t sleep at night. Everyone is a potential suspect. We are treated as criminals in our homes. They handcuff us and take us for questioning at will. Few days ago, my son came home with his friends.

I served them food. While they were eating, about 15 police men drove to the front of our house. They forced their way in,

arrested my son and his friends. One of them went into my room and took my phone. I followed them to the station crying and asking them to either kill me or release my children. After giving them some money, they allowed us go.”

Idowu Shittu, another young resident, stated that life is at a standstill in Igbonla. “We really do not know what to do anymore. It is a ghost town now. We need all the help that we can get. Things are getting worse. We cannot provide the appropriate security for ourselves.

“Since there is no electricity, we do not know who enters the community at night. It is total darkness at night,” he said.

For Hannah Shita, whose house sits opposite the gate of the Lagos State Model College, fear of uncertainty pervades the air. “One of my sister’s children is a student of the school and my child is a student there,” she told Nigerian Tribune. Continuing, she lamented, “we are very afraid. We really do not know what to do. There is no police station here. The closest is at Eredo. No police station, no electricity, no water. It is unfortunate. We feel trapped, not knowing where to go. Many have left for other communities but what happens to those of us who cannot go anywhere else?”