Like a swarm of locusts leaving
destruction and desolation in their wake, the invasion of some Lagos
riverside communities by suspected Niger Delta militants has all but
stalled the local economy of those areas.
Walking through some parts of Isawo and
Igbo-Olomu, still feels like walking through a ‘no man’s land’ with
shops shut, houses deserted and streets inhabited by nothing but
domestic animals.
Aside the immediate impact on livelihood
and the fear forcing people to flee these parts of Lagos where many
residents were slaughtered and shot by the militants about a month ago, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the attack had virtually grounded hotels in that part of Ikorodu and other areas such as Igando and Iba in Lagos.
“Only a madman will come here and lodge
in any hotel at a time like this. People are running away and you want
to come and sleep here?” an okada rider, who transported one of our
correspondents around the adjoining communities said.
His fear echoed the general atmosphere of fear which pervades the communities.
Nothing in the façade of the first guest
house our correspondent visited, Country Inn, could have suggested that
it was even open for business at all. Its main gate was locked with a
large padlock that seemed to scream ‘keep off!’
But a small metal door beside the gate allowed any curious eyes to see that the door to the reception was open.
When our correspondent approached the
attendant, Marcus Opawale, who sat in the reception, he told our
correspondent that he could count on the fingers of one hand the number
of people who had visited the guest house with the intention of lodging
in the last one month.
For the owners of multimillion naira
businesses like this, business stopped the day militants invaded
Igbo-Olomu and Ishawo communities on June 23, 2016 to slaughter, shot
and rape residents.
Residents fled in droves from the communities, after the attacks left streets littered with corpses.
When one of our correspondents visited
these communities, it was apparent many of the residents have no
intention of returning anytime soon as most of the shops there still
remained shut more than one month after.
Opawale, who spoke with our
correspondent at Court Inn, Igbo-Olomu, said the guest house would
likely remain open unless situation in the area deteriorates.
“But who knows when business will improve for us?” he said.
For others, staying open is not even an option in the face of the tremendous risk in the environment in which they operate
When our correspondent got to Money Mac Hotel, the hotel’s doors were firmly under lock and key.
An undisturbed bush around the entrance of the hotel leaves no one in doubt that it had been shut for a while.
Again, it was the same situation at
Vista Hotel, at Igbo-Olomu, which has also closed down business for lack
of patronage since the oil militants invaded the community.
One hotel which pleaded not to be
mentioned in Ishawo said it remained open even though very few lodgers
had come there in the last one month. It was running its relaxation spot
though.
The manager of the hotel, told one of
our correspondent that now, people had started staying away from the
relaxation spot within the premises of the hotel, where people come to
relax and drink every evening.
He said, “Let’s just say in the last one
month, we cannot really say we have made sales because what we made in
the last two weeks is not even up to what we make in one day when this
place was peaceful.
“Now we have decided to watch if things
improve for the next one week. If it does not, we will have to shut down
for now. There is no point opening the hotel every day when we are not
getting customers.”
Hotels are the biggest businesses in
these desolate communities, making them a major part of the local
economy of this part of Ikorodu, Lagos.
The problem of loss of revenue and lack
of customers resonated in at least eight hotels one of our
correspondents visited within Ishawo and Igbo-Olomu, with all of them
either on the verge of closing up shop or already shut down.
Their stories tell of the huge economic
toll the attack by the suspected oil militants has taken on the
communities. Other smaller businesses are almost no longer operating
when Saturday Punch visited the communities.
In Igando, while the hotels in the area
have not been deeply affected, some hospitals and healthcare centres in
the area where the militants struck have had to shut down operations to
avoid casualties. Specifically, one in Pacific Estate had to quickly
discharge its patients and shut down. One of our correspondents visited
the hospital on Thursday.
One of the residents who fled the
community after the attack, came back to meet his house burgled. He said
he was relocating to Ota, in Ogun State.
Fear grips other riverside communities in Lagos
The sudden upsurge in violence by
militants in Lagos and Ogun states is undoubtedly creating panic beyond
the fear-induced hurried sale of properties in places like Ikorodu.
There was a time when the activities of
suspected militants were unheard of in Lagos. But over the last few
months, the spread of the attacks from the Arepo riverside community of
Ogun State, which witnessed cases of major pipeline vandalism to Ikorodu
and recently to Igando, has created the fear that the militants might
be trying to exercise control over riverside communities.
The kidnappers of the Oniba of Iba in
Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos, another riverside community, had
told his family that they were militants who needed to survive since
they no longer had opportunity to make money from pipeline vandalism.
The monarch has yet to be released two weeks after he was abducted by the militants who have demanded a N500m ransom.
Just few kilometres away, militants also
kidnapped a 30-year-old resident of Igando two days after he arrived
Lagos and released days after, following the payment of an undisclosed
sum of money as ransom.
However at the moment, residents of
Festac in Amuwo Odofin, another Lagos community with creeks, fear the
militants might be planning to extend their attacks to the community.
According to them, the militants could
shift base to the area having been hunted by the police at Igando where
they mounted attacks at dawn on Tuesday.
A resident, Femi Olarinde, first raised
the alarm on social media on Tuesday evening, “Ijaw militants are
presently massing up in the creeks and waterways that are contiguous to
Amuwo Odofin. The Ijaw militants are planning to launch a major attack
in Amuwo Odofin.”
The information has been circulated a
number of times on the social media, underscoring the fear which has
pervaded communities around Lagos creeks.
A senior police officer in the frontline of the operation to rout the militants from the Lagos creeks told Saturday Punch that the information has got to the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad, which is the unit deployed against the militants.
“Our team has got some vital coordinates
of locations of interest through the use of the surveillance
helicopters. We are already working on some vital information,” the
officer said.
However, a security expert, Mr. Richard Amuwa, said the invasion of the militants could have been prevented.
According to him, when robbers had
started attacking through the waterways some months ago in Ikorodu,
Lekki, Festac, that was when the government should have refocused its
strategy.
Amuwa said, “I think the problem of what
is happening in Lagos right now is that the police have been largely
reactive in their strategy.
“Before now, there have been incidents
of armed robbers coming in through the waterways and creeks to operate.
It was obvious that that was the new modus operandi of criminals.
Nothing was done.
“When the governor came in, he bought
helicopters running into billions of naira to be used in surveillance.
But what is the awareness level of the public? Many people are not even
aware that there is 767 or 112 they could call when these people invade
their communities
“When there is shortage of manpower in the police, what are we doing with vigilantes and community policing?
“At the moment, the issue has escalated
to the extent that they have to see the current military action against
the militants through.”
Meanwhile, Saturday PUNCH gathered that on Thursday night, soldiers numbering hundreds engaged some militants at the Ibafo area of Ogun State.
Residents said the soldiers stormed the area in eight trucks and killed some of the militants.
The incident, which had created panic in the community, has led to some residents fleeing their homes.
A resident, Akin Oyetunde, said,
“Everyone is afraid now. People have been fleeing their homes as an
aftermath of Thursday’s incident. The soldiers came in eight trucks and
went to the creeks to battle the militants.
“The militants’ creek is like a depot.
It’s a place where they store crude oil from vandalised pipelines.
Because their business has now been affected, they have resorted to
terrorising the residents. They said we were the ones who spoiled their
business.
“There is panic and right from the
beginning of the week, people have been deserting their homes,
especially those around Halleluyah Quarters down to Ebute Road. I am
relocating out of the area this weekend.”
Another resident, Mr. Laolu Akeem, said he relocated his family out of the area on Friday morning.
Military bombing: Navy blocks Lagos, Ogun creeks to stop vandals
The Nigerian Navy on Friday said it had
successfully blocked all escape routes of the pipeline vandals in the
Arepo area of Ogun State and Isawo, Ikorodu in Lagos State.
It also said it was working together with the two states for the success of the operation.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria,
the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral
Fergusson Bobai, said this at a news conference held at the Command’s
Headquarters in Apapa, Lagos.
He said, “We blocked the escape routes
toward Ogun State and we are going to sustain this operation and see
where it will lead us. The essence of having this blockade by land and
water is that when they are running out, we will be able to grab them,
profile and investigate them.”
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