Three houses, two vehicles and motorcycles were set ablaze in a reprisal attack by colleagues of four land speculators killed in Adamo community in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The victims were lynched after residents mistakenly branded them as members of the Badoo cult group, which is said to be responsible for many deaths in the area.
It was later discovered that the slain persons were not members of the group.
According to NAN, the deceased had gone to an unnamed person building a project in Agungomoye area of Adamo, with the hope of collecting money from him.
The agency quoted a source as saying that they went away when the man refused to part with money, but threatened to return to the site.
”True to their threat, they mobilised and returned on Friday but unknown to them, the owner of the building had also mobilised some youths in the area,” the source said.
The agency gathered that a clash was said to have ensued between the land speculators and the residents, forcing them to flee from the site of the building project.
The land speculators were escaping when residents raised the alarm that they were members of the Badoo cult group.
It was also gathered that the residents had lied that the slain land speculators had earlier in the day killed a family of four people.
“More residents were mobilised and they reportedly chased the land speculators to where they were caught and beaten to stupor, with four of them eventually dying,” a source said.
“The death of the land speculators sparked instant crisis as hoodlums from Agunfoye mobilised themselves and invaded Adamo where three houses were burnt.
“The Agungoye thugs, who were armed with assorted dangerous weapons including guns, matches and broken bottles, attacked residents of Araro, injuring some of them in the process.
“It took the intervention of policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS)and local divisions in Ikorodu before the angry hoodlums were dispersed.”
Meanwhile, many residents of Araro have started relocating from the community following fears that the police might arrest them.
Some of them also expressed fears that the hoodlums from Agunfoye might return to avenge the death of the slain four people.
Fatai Owoseni, commissioner of police in Lagos said the police were on the trail of a family which allegedly raised the false alarm that resulted in the killing of the four persons.
Owoseni said the family already declared wanted had a fight with another family over an undisclosed matter, and raised a false alarm that the victims were members of the Badoo cult.
“The police are after the family that raised the false alarm. We are investigating the case,” Owoseni said.
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