According to punch:
Continuous gun report tore
through the air in the Ebute Meta area of Lagos
State on Tuesday afternoon.
As residents ran helter-skelter in the ensuing
confusion, four youths were shot dead, while
several others were wounded, as 20 vehicles
were also vandalised on four streets, namely
Kano, Ondo, Odunfa and Ibadan.
Our correspondent gathered that the crisis was
the aftermath of a primary election conducted
for two candidates of the All Progressives
Congress ─ Oladele Adekanye (Lado) and Bashiru
Oloto.
The two men were aspiring to get the APC ticket
to represent the Lagos Mainland Constituency
one in the 2015 elections.
Our correspondent learnt that the primary was
won by Lado, a former council chairman.
PUNCH Metro gathered that immediately the
results were announced, more than 100
hoodlums from Apapa Road, who wielded guns,
among other weapons, trooped into the streets
to create mayhem.
Our correspondent counted four damaged
vehicles on Kano Street, three on Ibadan Street,
seven on Odunfa Street and six on Ondo Street.
Those who were shot and cut with machetes
were said to have been evacuated.
A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said one
person was shot on Simpson Street, two died on
Lagos Street, while one was killed on Ibadan
Street.
He said, “The boys are from Apapa Road. They
cannot be less than 100 because they were
many and had double-barreled guns, cutlasses
and others. They shot sporadically into the air
and attacked people.
“Apart from the four persons that were shot
dead, many more were seriously injured and
were rushed to hospitals.”
A trader on Kano Street, Tolulope Salaam, said
the gang carted away all her wares which she
estimated at N60, 000.
At the Kano junction, handsets and other
products on display were reportedly carted away
by the rampaging hoodlums.
When our correspondent visited Ibadan Street,
where the primary election took place, he
observed that the road was deserted.
A mechanic in the area, Musbau Agbogun,
wondered how the security agencies could not
repel the attack.
He said, “I have been seeing them patrolling the
area. I also saw men of the Department of State
Service and policemen from Denton division
moving round. Despite that, innocent lives were
wasted. If this can happen in the party primaries,
what should we expect in the real election?”
A victim, Gideon Makinde, whose Toyota Camry
was vandalised told PUNCH Metro that he
parked his car by a side of the road.
A resident, Abdulhamed Kareem, explained that
some of the hoodlums broke into his sister’s
supermarket, and took all the money in the
drawer.
He showed our correspondent a commercial bus
that was riddled with bullets.
He said, “The man inside the bus was hit by a
bullet and has been rushed to a hospital,” he
added.
It was learnt that the same scenario almost
played out during another APC primaries in the
Ogudu area, but for the intervention of the
police.
It was learnt that protesters in Ogudu were
prevented from fomenting trouble during the
primary.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth
Nwosu, said nobody died in the Ebute Meta
incident.
He said, “There was a congress in the place this
afternoon. When they finished and announced
the result, some persons attempted to cause
commotion.
“We were able to protect the materials and the
officials, who were escorted out of the scene
without any harm. One person was shot and he
was taken to the hospital. There is no record of
death.”
He added that the election in the Ogudu area
was peaceful and there was no shooting.
He said, “Election was held around a police
station in Ogudu, and some people came from
Oworonshoki and started chanting protest songs.
They were asked to leave.”
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