Kunle Adelabu
Some bad elements once again dragged the cherished image of Ikorodu in the mud as tweets about an unfortunate incident involving some residents who attacked volunteers of a philanthropic group, Demi Care Foundation, at Ota Ona area during distribution of relief materials by the foundation, trend on social media.
The unfortunate incident occurred on Thursday, April 30, 2020, when workers of the foundation, which has been distributing palliative materials to residents in different parts of the state, were attacked and the relief items meant for distribution to vulnerable, aged and others in need to cushion the effects of the lockdown, flagrantly looted by irate mob.
Many of the residents in Ikorodu in their reactions stated that several groups, corporate bodies and individuals had brought relief items to Ikorodu to share to people in different parts of the division without any unpalatable scenario.
They argued that the incident does not give enough reason for one of the victims, Mrs Bimbo Oke, to label Ikorodu people as criminals and incite other humanitarian individuals or groups against extending their hands of fellowship to the people of the town.
According to the foundation in its tweet, “150 cartons of Noodles, 150 crates of eggs, 150 sachets of 1kg Semolina looted in Ikorodu”.
It was also alleged that the driver’s phone and two of the volunteers’ bags were stolen during the attack.
The foundation claimed that it was assured of the safety of its personnel but was disappointed by the attack and looting of its bus.
“We had a contact with the indigenes who assured us of our safety. But when we got there and discovered that the area was congested, we decided to leave and get the security personnel who are our usual back up. The mob, however, surrounded our bus , used metal objects to open the locks and looted all the items”, Demi Care Foundation said on its twitter handle.
One of the victims of the saga, Mrs Bimbo Oke with twitter handle, ‘@bimbo_cash’, described the incident as robbery and called on other volunteers not to visit Ikorodu for any intervention.
“The even tried stealing my hand bag. Volunteers bags gone, Driver’s new phone also gone. This is greed, this is robbery, this is not hunger. They are thieves”, she alleged on twitter.
“Whatever help, support, relief or charitable gesture you are doing, don’t visit Ikorodu. They are terrible people. They are broad day light looters. 150 cartons of Noodles , 150 crates of eggs , 150 satchets of Semolina looted . This is not hunger. This is stealing”, @bimbo_cash lamented.
Also, in a video that has gone viral on twitter, some residents – middle age women, young men and women and children, were seen forcefully entering a bus and removing cartons of indomie, semolina and other items.
The driver of the bus was also seen struggling to forcefully close the door and drive away from the scene but the mob prevented him.
In another tweet, the foundation stated that the attacked volunteers and driver were getting treatments and assured that it will continue with its humanitarian service despite the unfortunate setback.
“The driver and the volunteers are getting adequate treatments at a private hospital. Also, the driver’s phone as well as all the valuables stolen from the volunteers would be replaced by the foundation.
“Thank you all for the show of love and concern. However, we will continue to give relief”, the foundation assured members of the public.
In addition, the foundation stated that faces of some of the residents that were alleged to have committed the dastard act were captured and would be made to account for their actions.
“Few faces of the looters. They will be identified and picked up as this has been reported”.
Meanwhile, residents of Ikorodu have condemned the actions of some of the residents that were allegedly involved in the attack and looting.
While apologizing to the foundation and victims of the attack, the residents also stated that the actions of the attackers do not define the generality of Ikorodu people.
Ikorodu Division Economic Forum handler, reacting to the bad public relations that the unfortunate incident may have possibly generated for the town, condemned the act of the few residents involved in the incident but stated that it was wrong on the part of the foundation to call off support from other groups due to the incident.
“It is wrong to push this kind of narrative based on this sad incident. This action is condemnable as it was also condemnable in other areas in Lagos where similar incidents occured. But your observation does not define our community”.
Saheed Lawal, also commenting on the incident on twitter, stated:
“Sorry for this Ma, but we have a lot of good people in Ikorodu… You should have involved the security men or the police at garage…
“A man came to do such at garage and involved the men of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the police and everything went well.
“Once again, sorry for what happened”, he apologised.
Another resident with the Twitter name ‘Beautified&Graced’, who is also involved in distribution of relief materials in lkorodu, said that she has never experienced such incident before while also condemning the act.
“This is terrible. Where in Ikorodu is this?”, she asked.
“I never knew you were coming oo! There’s a way we go about sharing stuffs like this oo. Shuii… I belong to a group that feeds the destitutes and l have never experienced this oo.
“This is bad. So sorry for you and the volunteers”.
Another contributor, ‘O’ Gentle, who said that he had seen other people carrying out similar assignment in Ikorodu without any incident, added that the entire town cannot be held responsible for the acts of few residents.
“You people need to chill out. I’ve seen @Lollylarry1 visiting Ikorodu to do the same thing peacefully.
“I agree that what happened was quite unfortunate but don’t blame the whole town for that”.
@skinnytee01, another resident of Ikorodu, also warned against using the incident to define the people of Ikorodu.
“Sorry that this happened but where in Ikorodu is this? Generalizing like this isn’t good for the reputation of those of us living in Ikorodu”.
Adebayo Hamzat, in his own response, also condemned the act.
“I live in lkorodu and this is so sad.. I actually live close to where this went down.
“Hope you guys are alright”, he asked while showing concern for the volunteers of the Foundation.
Also contributing, ‘IKORODU.UK MAN’ put the blame squarely on the non-indigenes.
“I can bet my life most of these people involved in the attack are not lkorodu indigenes. Most of them are migrants!
“I have said this countless times! They will just come to Lagos without (aim) and purpose. Funny thing they will just be reproducing anyhow. Crazy!”.
A platform related to Ikorodu, ‘inside ikorodu’, also reacting, apologized to the foundation’s volunteers for the sad experience they had in Ikorodu and added that the town had accommodated several humanitarian individuals and NGOs that had come for same purpose without any problem.
“Good evening ma’am, first, I would like to apologize for the ugly experience you and your team had in Ikorodu.
“But it’s important to state that, before now, several other groups had reached out to Ikorodu people and even during this pandemic period…”.
In a chat with Comrade Olalekan Oba Biliamin, the Coordinator of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Ikorodu Local Government chapter, he stated that he has investigated the matter and found out that the process of sharing of the relief materials was not well coordinated.
The youth leader, who also stated that he had witnessed ten other instances where other groups and individuals shared relief packages to the people during the lockdown without any incident, described what happened to the volunteers as strange and condemnable.
“My attention was drawn to a post on Facebook that one Bimbo Oke tagged Ikorodu people as thieves. I got on the post and I discovered the whole act happened due to lack of coordination on the part of her team because in her comment, she admitted to the fact that they noticed that the area (scene of the incident) was not in order and yet they chose to go ahead with the sharing of the few packages they intended to give out to the people and when they were through and were about to leave, other ‘vulnerable people’ who could not get the packages forced their way to their car where other packs of the Noddles distributed were kept and this led to the chaotic situation”, he said.
“I had witnessed ten distribution exercise by other groups and individuals across Ikorodu division and I can tell you frankly that what happened to this particular group is strange and condemnable.
“We’ve investigated the matter and we discovered that the intention of those people who attacked the volunteers was not to harm them as portrayed by Bimbo. It was just communication and coordination problem”, he opined.
He, however, warned against portraying Ikorodu people in bad light based on the incident and urged Bimbo and her team to be civil in their judgement, adding that lkorodu people have adequate exposure and are accommodating.
“Those living outside Ikorodu should desist from using Ikorodu to gain cheap popularity, they should be civil in their judgement.
“Ikorodu people are very accommodating with the right exposure. So, those who think we are primitive are doing so due to ignorance”, Olalekan said.
Also commenting, Mr Olaoluwa Oke Godwin, member of Board of Trustees (BOT), Ikorodu Division Youth Initiative Movement (IDYIM), also condemned the attack on the group but added that such incident does not in any way represents the character of the entire residents in the ancient town.
“Seriously, the incident reported by the woman was really sad and I condemn it. During this lockdown, there are several reported cases of people mobbing distributors of relief packages and these actions should be condemned too.
“But such should not be the basis for forming a negative notion about a whole community. Her (Bimbo) action does not only portray bias on her part but also mischief”, he said.
Also, the President, National Association of Ikorodu Division Students, Comrade Soyiga Samuel Adeshina, in chat with THE IMPACT, queried what Bimbo set out to gain by embarking on the campaign on Twitter.
He likened Bimbo’s action to that of a person looking for cheap publicity.
“I followed all her trends on twitter and I thought of what she intended to gain in doing that?”, the students’ leader asked.
“I think she just wanted to use Ikorodu to score cheap popularity. She also mentioned another place in her comment but no one gave attention to it except Ikorodu.
“This shows that Ikorodu is great and people all over Nigeria are interested in news concerning Ikorodu.
“One thing I also thank God for is that her followers are not as gullible as she. Many people responded and said the story she fabricated about Ikorodu is false”, Soyiga said.
“I watched the video too but sincerely, the video is not the same as her comment.
“I will not say Ikorodu is totally violent free but I believe the state government should be called upon to work more on the state of security in the town because this is the only effective way that security issue can be handled and not through the people on the twitter or her (Bimbo) followers on twitter”.
