Except relevant authorities quickly step in, a major crisis may be brewing in a controversial Lagos estate, LEKAN OLABULO reports.
DAYS after suspected Fulani herdsmen murdered a young man said to be a bus conductor in the Badagry area of the Lagos State, tension is still very palpable in the area.
A visit to the area on Thursday afforded Saturday Tribune the opportunity to assess how the Yoruba community is handling the anger of youths over the killing.
It was also discovered that the herdsmen living in the area had fled for fear of reprisal by the Yoruba youths.
Apprehension had enveloped some parts of Badagry between Monday and Tuesday after the bus conductor was reportedly stabbed to death by two herdsmen following an accident involving a commercial bus and some cows. The cows were reportedly grazing around Atiporome, a community between Agemowo and Mowo in Badagry, when the accident that led to the killing happened.
The incident would have quickly degenerated into an ethnic clash between the Yoruba and the Fulani but for the timely intervention of military operatives and men from the Badagry Divisional Police Station who were deployed to the scene of the accident.
Still seething with rage, a second attempt at a reprisal created another round of anxiety as angry youths mobilised themselves and began to destroy some of the makeshift buildings belonging to the herdsmen and their kinsmen.
Police have now confirmed having five suspects in custody over the murder. “They are the driver of the vehicle, his conductor, two herders and the owner of the cow,” the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundenyi, disclosed.
He added: “They are assisting us in the investigation because it is a comprehensive and holistic one. Remember, this is a murder case and we need to be very careful with the investigation. We are not targeting anybody. We need everybody’s input, including bystanders, so that we can recreate the scene and know what exactly happened and who exactly is at fault. At the end of investigation, anyone found not culpable will be allowed to go.”
The arrest of the bus driver and his conductor is, however, raising eyebrows as they were considered to be victims and not suspects as claimed by the police spokesperson.
Wife of the detained driver, Favour Bright, was quoted as claiming that the police might eventually set her husband up.
She reportedly said: “My husband, Bright Okpara, drove the vehicle that accidentally hit the cow that died. Immediately the incident happened, he and his conductor ran to the police station to report the matter. When the police escorted them back, they saw a dead body on the floor. A woman there told them that herders killed the man, thinking he was the one that killed their cow.
“Thereafter, the policemen took them back to the station to write a statement. Since then, they have not come back. Rather, from Morogbo Station, they took them to Ikeja and from there to Panti. Now, the story doing the rounds is that the man that was killed was a thief. If care is not taken, my husband and the conductor might be implicated in the murder. I am, therefore, appealing to the police authorities to release my husband and his conductor because I don’t know why they are kept in custody.”
Peace of the graveyard?
When Saturday Tribune visited Atiporome, normalcy had returned to the town but it was not clear if the youths had got over the Monday incident.
A resident who identified himself simply as Apashe said: “The driver was coming from the Roundabout area of Badagry and was driving on the other side of the road. There is a construction work going on, on the Badagry Expressway and vehicles drive on just one side of the road.
“I was not there when the accident happened but it happened over there at Agogo Igbala Bus Stop. The two herdsmen were leading the cows across the road when the driver of the bus rammed into two of the animals.
“The vehicle was also badly damaged but the two cows died on the spot. Nobody can say what happened between the driver, his conductor and the herdsmen. What we know is that the driver disappeared and the herdsmen descended on the conductor and stabbed him to death.”
Another resident who pleaded anonymity while speaking with Saturday Tribune said: “Our people would have lynched those Fulani men if not for the timely arrival of policemen but where were these policemen when they were killing the bus conductor.
“The driver was not at fault on the incident. There is an ongoing construction work in some parts of Badagry. He cannot be said to be driving against traffic. What was his offence then? If anybody should be blamed, it should be the Fulani men who are grazing their cows in the community.”
He would not say if the plan to launch a reprisal against the murderous Fulani herdsmen has been abandoned or not.
In a viral video of the aftermath of the killing, youths of the Yoruba ethnic stock can be seen brandishing weapons as they mill around one of the dead cows and the damaged commercial bus which hit the animals. A person in the video, who is obviously the person who shot it, can be heard complaining bitterly about the activities of herdsmen in Badagry communities and calling on security agencies to take drastic steps to “forestall a bigger ethnic clash in Badagry.”
Speaking on top of his voice, he says: “My people! See, just because of cows, the Fulani people killed the conductor of this bus (zeroing the camera on the bus and dead cows. They attempted to kill the driver also but he escaped from them. They chased the conductor to the police checkpoint there, where they stabbed him. This is less than one month after we raised the alarm about stockpiling of arms inside the Buhari Estate. Well-meaning Yoruba should rise.”
We live with cows –Residents
Residents of the Lagos community are also lamenting that open grazing has become a part of their existence.
A spare part seller who identified himself simply as Ray said: “The truth is that I had never heard of any clash between the Fulani people and anybody before the Monday incident
“We never had any problem with them before. We are used to them and their cows. They lead their cows into the grass near my shop, even, while we are seated under the canopy in front of the shop. It was only when some of the cows stray to destroy a part of my shop that I complained.
“At times, the herdsman would lead such cows away and at times he would pretend as if he did not hear or understand what I was saying but I have never had any reason to fight with them and I have not heard any clash between them and anybody in this area.”
A motorcyclist who identified himself as Mauho said: “Cows are not strange here. They graze openly in our community. They go their way and we go our way. The herders put them in the fields and bush around the houses in the community. It is not a new thing to us in this community.
“They don’t fight with people here. I am not sure that they had any issue with anybody in the past. They bring their cows here in the morning and take them back to their market at Hanos Pat Bus Stop later in the day.”
The Baale of Atiporome, Chief Joshua Medepo, described the incident between the Fulani herdsmen and the commercial bus conductor as an isolated case, noting that the Fulani had been staying with them for more than 20 years without any misunderstanding.
The community leader also dispelled the reports that the Fulani herdsmen had stockpiled arms and ammunition in police estate in the area
In an interview, Chief Medepo said: “It happened on the expressway and I was not there when the incident occurred. I only received calls from my colleagues, who are also baales in other communities and I quickly took a bike and went there. When I got there, I met the dead cows and the damaged vehicle at the scene.
“I was still there trying to ensure that the situation was properly managed when I got another call that some youths were mobilising themselves and were about to attack the Fulani in the community. I quickly returned to the village. By the time I got there, they had burnt a small hut belonging to the Fulani. All of them [the Fulani inhabitants] had fled to avoid being killed but we were able to manage the situation.
“We have been living with the Fualni in the village for more than 20 years .They have a place where they sell their cows at Hanos Pat. We never had any fight with them in the past. I am surprised at what happened on the expressway. Something like that had never happened in the village.”
On the alarm raised by some people that the Fulani were stockpiling arms in the police estate in the community, Chief Medepo said: “Thank God for the traditional ruler in this area, Oba Adewale Okoya. There is nothing like that in the estate. Oba Okoya has led us into the estate to search the place and nothing was found there.”
Inside Buhari Estate
Investigations by Saturday Tribune showed that although most of the apartments in the estate are yet to be occupied, almost all of them have been sold out. Some policemen are also occupying the estate against the widespread report that it has been abandoned.
Saturday Tribune observed a police post very close to the entrance of the estate gate, though there were not many residents except for the security men at the gate and a few labourers working in the estate.
The estate was built in 2014 by a real estate company for the Nigeria Police Force Multi Purpose Society and sold to willing officers who could afford it. There is, however, no instruction that only policemen should stay in the estate.
Saturday Tribune correspondent made enquiries about units of flats in the estate and was assured that he could live in the estate as long as he could afford to buy any of the flats. The estate is fenced with wire and comprises majorly two and three-bedroom apartments.
One of the officers living in the estate, who spoke to Saturday Tribune under anonymity, said: “Why not? You can live here even if you are a civilian. Almost all the apartments have been bought by policemen. Some of them are not staying here. They bought it and resold it by adding N1 million or N2 million to the original price of N6.5 million.”
On the claim that Fulani herdsmen were stockpiling arms in the estate, the resident said: “I heard that, too. It is not possible. How can Fulani herdsmen live in a police estate? I have never heard of any kidnapping in this area .We are surrounded by communities. None of them has ever complained of any abduction here.”
Police, security expert react
Hundeyin, spokesman of the state police command, in his response to Saturday Tribune’s enquiry said, “Our previous message stands. The area is safe. There is no invasion as rumoured. The killing that occurred is totally unrelated to previous speculation of an invasion.”
A security expert and commentator, Juliana Francis, however, urged the state government and security agencies to demonstrate tougher stance against lawlessness in the state.
Francis said: “It will be recalled that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration became decisive on restrictions of motorcycles following the burning to death of a sound engineer at the Lekki Ajah area of the state metropolis. Some weeks later, this happened in Badagry and it involved another set of herders of the Northern extraction, stabbing an innocent man to death.
“This shows that security forces are not sending the right signal of deterrent. What do I mean? The state government and the commissioner of police should work together to show that lawlessness and impunity will not be condoned in the state.
“They should ensure these elements are prosecuted. I have noticed that some of our brothers of the northern extraction believe they have monopoly on violence and that they are untouchable.
“If this belief is allowed to continue, then it will continue to cause division among people residing in Lagos State. If nothing is done to correct these, our brothers, we may soon have an escalating security crisis, which may end up consuming both the guilty and the innocent.”
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