The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has appealed to residents of the Ikorodu area of the state, those in the state generally and to the media to be careful of how they raise alarm and report issues regarding killings linked to the Badoo gang.

Killings alleged to be perpetrated by members of a gang widely known as Badoo have been causing panic in Lagos State, especially in the Ikorodu area, since last year and residents are now quick to link any killing to the gang.

The modus operandi of the gang has been identified as smashing of the head of their victims with a grinding stone, or any big, heavy stone for that matter, after which the killers would wipe the victims’ blood with a white handkerchief. Which they allegedly use for money rituals.

Now, residents, weary of waiting for government security operatives and the state government to rein in the Badoo boys, take the law into their hands.It has become sort of abominable for anybody in Ikorodu and its environs especially to be caught with a grinding stone and a handkerchief, as such possessions could attract an identification of Badoo membership and bear instantly a jungle justice of burning.

But the resort to jungle justice has come with palpable fear that innocent persons might be wrongly tagged Badoo members and killed by an irate mob. Actually, on July 2, 2017, a comedian, Chinedu Paul, who went by the stage name MC Think Twice, and his two friends were labelled Badoo members by a mob and burnt to death. Relations and friends of Paul maintain the comedian was innocent.

Now, the Lagos State Police Commissioner has called for caution, saying it was the hype that residents and the media give to murder cases in the state that was fuelling allegations of Badoo killings.

Owoseni told journalists how a stone found behind an old woman’s house in the Agbowa area of Ikorodu caused pandemonium in the area.

He said that someone who was linked to the stone was almost lynched by residents of the area who trooped to the compound to catch a glimpse of the object.

He said, “One morning, a woman woke up in the morning to discover a mystery stone behind her window. She raised the alarm which attracted other neighbours to the area. A search was conducted and a young man was found to be hiding behind the woman’s house. The young man was almost lynched by an angry mob but for the timely arrival of the police who rescued the situation.

“All those questioned about the mystery stone could not give satisfactory statements as regard the stone and the young man. If the police had not arrived at the place on time, the suspect would have been killed. This is why we are trying to discourage people from carrying out jungle justice on supposed suspects. Any strange persons arrested should be handed over to the police for further investigation.”

He advised that the Badoo issue required professional handling, stressing that till now, nobody has been able to say that he or she saw someone climb into the home of a victim.

All we have heard are mere rumours. The command is working tirelessly to see how it can control the situation. The whole thing seems to be getting out of hand because of the media hype. If a driver of a car with a tinted glass parks his vehicle at a junction, the tendency is that he will be lynched there once his face is not known to anyone in the area.

“We are seeking the cooperation of the media. It is not all about incompetence on the part of the police. We should join hands to condemn the jungle justice being meted out to suspects,” he said.

Owoseni revealed that the command was still profiling all those arrested for their alleged involvement in the activities of the Badoo gang in Ikorodu, stating that at the end of the profiling all those found wanting would be charged to court.

According to him, among the screening panel are officials of the Department of State Security (DSS), the police and members of the Neighbourhood Security Watch group.

lalasticlala