Posted by By JULIANA FRANCIS and KELECHI NGBOJI on
Hell was let loose in Lagos Monday as street urchins, popularly called area boys, engaged members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in a bloody clash that was spreading like wildfire until soldiers were brought in to stop the fighters who were shooting and looting.
Hell was let loose in Lagos Monday as street urchins, popularly called area boys, engaged members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in a bloody clash that was spreading like wildfire until soldiers were brought in to stop the fighters who were shooting and looting.
Several property were destroyed and many people injured as the fight, which was said to have started Sunday night in the Afariogun area of Oshodi, spread to the Onipanu area along Ikorodu Road.
Investigation revealed that trouble started when OPC men challenged the actions of street urchins, who were said to have impounded some vehicles and were demanding money from the owners.
The OPC men allegedly shot one of the area boys, who thereafter regrouped and descended on motorists, traders and residents of the area, thereby paralysing business activities.
The mayhem took a new dimension when a soldier was wounded in the fracas which police could not quell, despite the fact that several teargas cannisters were fired to disperse the fighters.
After receiving reports of their injured comrade, soldiers from two nearby barracks stormed the scene and another round of battle began between them and the dare devil area boys.
By Monday evening, the mayhem had spread further along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, where the fighters were seen with machetes, daggers, guns, broken bottles and other dangerous weapons.
Many people who fell victim were rushed to various hospitals, including Igbobi Orthopedic Hospital, Fadeyi on Ikorodu Road.