A 58-year-old vigilante, Rafiu Lawal, has been declared missing following an attack by suspected hoodlums at Abule Erefun in the Ogijo area of Ogun State.
TheNigerian Metro learnt that the incident happened on Wednesday, March 5, when some police officers from Zone 2 visited the area for an inspection.
It was gathered that the police officers were invited by some leaders of the community over an alleged vandalisation of their property by suspected hoodlums.
On arriving at the location, the four policemen were said to have been joined by members of the vigilantes who offered to guide them around the area.
They were, however, ambushed during the inspection by some hoodlums who attacked them with dangerous weapons.
The leader of the vigilante group, who identified himself simply as Gadafi, told our correspondent on Sunday that two people were injured during the attack by the hoodlums, said to be close to 100.
He said, “Some families in the community invited the police to assess the damage done to their properties as a result of theft and vandalism. When they came that morning, I joined them and we also met two of my subordinates, including Rafiu who were already at work in the community. So, they also joined us during the inspection around 11:30 am.
”Suddenly, some hoodlums emerged from nowhere and began to attack us. It was during the attack that we managed to escape. The police officers were also attacked as they managed to run towards their van and drove away, leaving one of them behind. It was the officer they left behind who helped me and dragged me into a nearby bush for safety.“
Nasiru Aweda, a relative of Rafiu, however, lamented that he was last seen during the attack and efforts to locate his whereabouts had proved abortive.
He said, “A day after the incident happened, we visited Zone 2 to complain about my missing brother, but they did not follow us again but only promised to investigate. The police division in the community visited the spot the following day, but they could not locate my brother. As I speak to you, we have not seen him.”
The spokesperson for Zone 2 Police Command, CSP Umma Ayuba, could not be reached as calls made to her phone were not responded to. A text message sent to her had yet to be responded to as of the time this report was filed.
