Kunle Adelabu
-Truck driver badly injured, dispossesed of money, phone
Mr Korede Kaka, the battered topper driver
Members of the Lagos State Central Sand and Granite Suppliers Association, Ikorodu Oga District has cried out to the government and law enforcement agencies to save them from constant harrasment and attacks by hoodlums in Ikorodu, especially in Odogunyan.
They claimed that hoodlums called Area Boys, through their attacks, are crippling their businesses.
The latest of such attacks happened on the evening of Thursday, June 23, 2022, when truck drivers bringing granite for them were attacked with hammer, cutlass, stones and sticks.
One the drivers was battered and dispossessed of N250, 000 cash and phone.
The most affected victim, Mr Korede Kaka, 35, and a resident of Ewu Oluwo in Shagamu, was alleged to have been attacked with stones and sticks and also had his head smatched with a hammer and cutlass.
Mr Korede, who had his head stiched at the General Hospital, also has deep cuts on several parts of his body, including his back, hand and leg.
The matter, THE IMPACT gathered, was reported to the three Baales in Odogunyan: Oju Emuren, Eginrin and Orofo.
The victim, who narrated the ordeal he and two others went through in the hands of about ten hoodlums, spoke with our reporter after his treatment at the General Hospital.
“I brought granite to Ikorodu for Iya Alaje (Mrs Ayoola) and on getting to Powerline junction at Oju Emuren, some guys stopped my truck and demanded for money and I gave them N3000 but they rejected it stating that they wanted more”, he said.
“Thereafter, I told them that they may follow me to the owner of the granite to demand more from her as I have offered them what that I had and they jumped on bike chasing me.
Korede whose head was allegedly snatched with hammer and cutlass by Odogunyan hoodlums
“They chased me to Oke Idera where they started hitting the driver with dangerous objects and the damaged the truck”, Korede alleged.
“I was seated in between the driver and another person in the truck.
“I had to call Iya Alaje, the owner of the granite who said she would be with us. After, I also called Mrs Badejo (Iya Pelumi), who is also a granite supplier to explain what we were experiencing to her and she came to the scene before Iya Alaje”, the victim recalled.
He said that he came down from the tipper on hearing the voice of Mrs Badejo.
“On hearing Mrs Badejo’s voice, I stepped down from the truck but the hoodlums started beating and hitting me with objects”, he alleged.
“I had to took to my heels when I could no longer bear the attacks and they still went after me throwing stones and every other things that they could lay their hands on. At a point, I fell down and they descended on me.
“They were about ten running after me and throwing stones and sticks at me.
“While they descended on me, they hit me on the head with an hammer, cutlass and other dangerous objects. They took the payment for the granite that I came to supply which is N250, 000 and my phone, Spark 5”, Korede stated.
“They actually dragged me and forced me to stand on my feet forcefully and began to ransack my pockets and removed the money.
“They dragged my phone with me and I had to let go when they hit my hand with a stick (pointing to another wound on his hand).
“It was after this, that residents assisted me to a private hospital”, the victim recalled.
Mr Korede said that he later identified one of the hoodlums that attacked him when he got to the hospital where his wounds were treated
“I dont know them but one of them came to the hospital where I was been treated and I called attentions of some of those with me to his presence without him knowing. They secretly recorded his face”, he said.
“He was the one calling me to come back while I was running away from them and also throwing dangerous objects at me with other hoodlums”.
Mr Korede, who was in severe pains while speaking with our reporter, said that the matter was reported to the Baale of the area who directed them to lodge complaints at the police station.
“I lost so much blood and the woman tried frantically to stop the bleeding”, he said.
“It was today (Saturday) that we reported the matter to the Baale who asked us to report it at the police station because the matter is beyond him.
“It was at the police station that I was given police report to treat myself at the General Hospital.
“I am not feeling fine at all. I am only trying to be a man. The wound on my head is severe and am going through excruciating pains”, he said.
Mrs Modupe Badejo, the Woman Leader, Rofo Unit of the Sand and Granite Suppliers Association, in her reaction, lamented the way the area boys have been harassing them at Odogunyan and called on the appropriate authority to come to their assistance.
“Those guys always insist that tippers bringing sand and granites for us must pay as high as N20, 000, and they have been disturbing our businesses”, she lamented.
“In this particular case, they asked for money that the guy cannot afford and he offered them N3,000 and this resulted in the severe attack on him.
“He was badly injured and the wound on his head which was massive and had to be treated and stitched at the General Hospital.
“We had reported the matter to the three Baales in the area and we are appealing to the concerned authorities that they should help us stop these harrasment and attacks on our members”, she said.
“As you can see, we are at the station to lodge formal complaints to the police authority”.
Another member of the association said that the matter has been reoccurring and that it is threatening their businesses.
She called on the Ayangbure of Ikorodu to intervene on their behalf so that hoodlums would stop extorting and threatening their business.
Also at the station was the Chairman of the association, Alhaji Jamiu Shonubi and other chieftains of the association.
In a phone chat with one of the Baales in Odogunyan, he condemned the extortion by the hoodlums and the attack on the truck drivers.
The Baale, who pleaded that his name should not be mentioned for fear of attack on his family, assured that the community is looking for ways to put a stop to such criminal act.
“We are doing everything to put a stop to such criminal act in our community. All the Baales and chieftains are on the matter and I can assure you that we are working on it”, the Baale said.
“I saw the victim and I felt for him, even a robber should not be treated the way he was beaten.
“The police too are on the matter, but we the owners of the community are already wading into it to ensure that we don’t go back to the Odogunyan of some years back when insecurity prevailed.
“The issue is that we have different people living and coming into the area because of the companies around us, but we are going to ensure that the peace is maintained”.
The community head also told our reporter that they are in talk with the boys in the area to always accept whatever the tipper drivers give them and should stop demanding for more.
