My Experience With The Hoodlums Terrorising Igando, A Young Man Narrated

At about 7:50pm shortly after Buhari announced the extension of the lockdown, I and my neighbours gather around a shop in front of the house to discuss the way forward, wail, and give opinions about what the president just said.

During the course of our discussion, the issue of boys terrorising lagos came up and as expected, they were reactions from everyone. Some are of the opinion that this is not as a result of hunger but just an excuse for these hoodlums to perpetrate their evil act. Jokes were flying around (our usual practice of suffering and smiling), people giving out safety tips and all, talks on how to get a cutlass for protection etc.

In the middle of this talk, a young lady came in to buy foodstuffs from the shop and overheard our discussion. She then decided to make her own contribution of how she just survived an alleged attack by some of these boys, how she scrambled for safety some few hours ago, how many were killed including a pregnant woman( at this juncture, i know all what she said were all lies). She went on and on and i could sense that fear were being created among the listener. I was angry, furious and I began to tell as many people around me not to entertain fear but be calm. Meanwhile, just as I’m talking, one of the women in the discussion claim she saw boys moving in, and this is where it all begins.

Come and see how people were running helter-skelter, some of the people that were initially boasting how fearless they are, ran like children to take cover. Panics began to set in and just like a wild fire, i witness how it spread throughout the whole street. Shops that were open, close in a twinkle of an eye without seeing the enemy in sight. In the midst of this, I was still angry. Angry, because, it was clear to me this is just another false alarm. The next thing i know, the youths gather in their numbers with cutlasses, knives, sticks chanting as one going to battle. Tyres were burnt in every junction accompany with shouts. Different weapons were brought out from boys ranging from age 12. And the peaceful atmosphere in no time, turned to a violent one. I witness first hand how people can be mistaken for robbers and be burnt alive cause, every okada rider that came into the street was virtually mobbed, innocent residents were accosted, and if not provided useful evidence was asked to sit on the floor.

I switched on my data and the next message i got were from friends, telling me how Igando is on fire, How they have being coordinated attacks within igando, how robbers have invaded Igando and killed many. I was stunned upon seeing this. Logged on to twitter and it’s already trending and I’m like, is it this same Igando or another one? Is it the fire we started by ourselves? or is it not the boys that came out with their weapons to attack an unseen army?

My point is, we should stop creating unnecessary fear among ourselves. Let’s stop spreading fake news, it help no one. If i should upload the “deadly” pictures and videos i took, its as if we are in a war front, imagine i post it on twitter or facebook, People who are far away would think these are the criminals not knowing they are just residents trying to protect themselves. It later dawned on me that majority of the videos circulating online were that of the residents not the hoodlums. And for the arrest that were made, assuming the policemen visited this street, almost everyone would be arrested as they were all with one deadly weapon or the other. At around 3am, I was woken up with what sounded like gun shots but unknown to me it was the young boys that visibly got angry that were banging gates of every house shouting that everybody should come out, that nobody deserve sleep since they too are not sleeping.

I’m not saying these cultist don’t exist or do not attack communities. What I’m saying is, we should stop the spread of fake news, let’s report it the way it is.

I appreciate every one who came out yesterday to keep watch till this morning in a bid to try to protect their communities. You guys are the best! God keep us all!