No fewer than three persons have been reportedly killed in the ongoing supremacy clashes involving members of the Eiye and Aiye cults in Owode and Ibeshe communities, in the Igbogbo Bayeku Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that among the victims was a betting agent, identified only as Segun, who was hit by a stray bullet.
It was further gathered that the supremacy battle had been ongoing for over a month in the communities.
Some residents were said to have abandoned their houses to seek refuge in safe environments, while many lived in constant fear of the unknown.
A source revealed to reporters that the cultists usually engaged one another with guns, cutlasses and machetes, adding that business activities in the Owode and Ibeshe areas had been grounded due to the cult attacks.
The source said, ‘What is going on is totally uncalled for, and it is sad that an innocent person, Segun, that I knew very well was killed by a stray bullet shot by these cultists. Two other suspected cultists were killed. One was shot dead adjacent to the F1Bar in Ebute, Ikorodu.
‘The clashes between Aiye cultists from Owode and Eiye cultists from Ibeshe have been going on for over a month. What we gathered was that the Eiye cultists killed an Aiye cultist and they have been fighting and killing one another, including innocent residents.
‘From 6pm in Owode and Ibeshe, everywhere is deserted; you won’t even see anyone moving from 7pm for their own safety. The situation has got to a stage where the cultists rob hawkers and business persons of their goods at will. Residents have been relocating; I am also planning to relocate my family.’
A politician, Rotimi Balogun, further disclosed that the cultists were fighting over tax collection from truck drivers conveying sand into the community, and land matters, adding that the police in the area needed support to resolve the problem.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
