Posted by By Eugene Agha on
About 62 hoodlums arrested for their alleged involvement in the Monday crisis that occurred between soldiers and touts in Oshodi, Lagos, have been handed over to the police for prosecution.
About 62 hoodlums arrested for their alleged involvement in the Monday crisis that occurred between soldiers and touts in Oshodi, Lagos, have been handed over to the police for prosecution.
The 62 suspects were allegedly arrested by personnel of the Nigerian Army attached to the 9th mechanized Brigade, Ikeja, between Monday and Tuesday along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
Also Army Authority in Lagos State confirmed that three of its personnel were presently on the danger list in hospital following the dip injuries inflicted on them by the urchins.
The Army Public Relations Officer of the 9th Mechanised Brigade, Ikeja, Major Hamza Gambo, who addressed journalists before the suspects were handed over to the police at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti Street, Lagos, said six Army personnel were severely injured by the hoodlums who went on rampage attacking any soldier on sight, while about 62 suspected hoodlums were also arrested.
He said the suspects were believed to be 'Area Boys' and that the Army Authority decided to officially hand them over to the police since it was not within the powers of the Nigerian Army to prosecute the hoodlums.
"In all, six officers were injured, however, three out of the six injured officers are presently on the danger list while one who had his liver punctured as a result of the knife injuries he received was operated on yesterday for about eight hours' he added.
He said some of the suspects who were able to identify themselves at the time of their arrest were allowed to go, but that the police are expected to conduct further investigations to ascertain those who actually had a hand in the war
Gambo who personally took the suspects to the Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, when the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), in charge of operations, Mr. John Haruna, who had earlier promised to take over the suspects from the Army failed to show up at the Headquarters of the 9th mechanised Brigade, said representatives of the DCP advised him to take the hoodlums to SCID, Panti.
The reason given by the DCP, according to him was that the Command had no facility that would accommodate the suspects.
Commenting on the genesis of the crisis, Gambo said he was reliably informed by the first victim of the attack, that he was on his way to the Army cantonment, Ikeja, when some group of people, numbering 60 to 70, swooped on the vehicles in which he was.
"The officer stated that one of the hoodlums who had identified him as an officer drew the attention of members of his group to him and before he could ask what the matter was the group swooped down on him with dagger which they used to inflict injuries on him," he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Oshodi Local Government, Area of Lagos State, Mr. Afeez Ipesa-Balogun, appealed to the Army Authority to temper justice with mercy.
According to him, the Army should release the hoodlums who he promised his council was going to rehabilitate.
"About eight officers actually sustained injuries and I was at the hospital yesterday when one of them was operated on," he said.
He added that the council would enter into dialogue with the leaders of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and that they would find a way of ensuring that proper method of collecting tolls would be adopted.