Militants kill Army Captain, 5 policemen in Lagos

Suspected militants stormed the Ikorodu area of Lagos on Sunday morning and engaged a joint team of policemen and soldiers in a gun battle.

When the dust of battle set­tled, and peace returned to the area, five policemen and two soldiers, including an Army Captain, were reportedly found dead.

Although details of the identities of the victims were sketchy at the time of filing this report last night, the Army Captain was simply named as Muhammad.

All the victims, it was gath­ered, were members of the Joint Task Force also known as “Op­eration Awatse.”

The identity of the militant group, which carried out the at­tack in Woodland Estate near the Ishawo Creeks, could not be ascertained.

Top security chiefs said that they had launched an investiga­tion into the incident.

 

 Last year, police and military operatives had engaged militants operating in the riverine commu­nities and dislodged them from their abode.

Security sources disclosed yesterday evening that the mili­tants struck at Woodland Estate near Ishawo Creeks and engaged the soldiers and the police in a gun duel.

Some residents fleeing the es­tate said that they heard persisted shooting in the estate while agen­cy reports added that when calm returned to the scene, the bodies of the victims were found.

One of the sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that “at the end of the gun duel, five policemen and two soldiers were gunned down by the militants.”

The sources could not con­firm whether there were casual­ties on the part of the militants, but they however said that more security forces had been deployed in the area to contain any possible counter-action.

The Lagos State Police Com­mand Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olarinde Famous-Cole, said that he was still gathering information on the matter.

He promised to issue a state­ment as soon as possible.

Similarly, the spokesperson of the 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Lt.-Col. Olaolu Daudu, said that the authorities would issue a state­ment on the incident.

On March 13, 2017, the resi­dents had reported the return of the militants to the area, adding that they were living in palpable fear.

There have been several cas­es of kidnapping and oil theft in the Ikorodu area and other river­ine communities with neighbour­ing Ogun State.

On August 2016, the Joint Task Force, after several bloody clashes in Ikorodu, were able to flush out the militants from the area.

Scores of people were killed during the clashes between mil­itants and residents of Ishawo community before the joint mil­itary task force was deployed in the area.

Famous-Cole said that the command was re-strategising on the security arrangements in the state, including Ikorodu area.

He said more police patrol teams would be deployed in the area, and urged residents to pro­vide useful information on the ac­tivities of the hoodlums.

The Flag Officer Command­ing, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Fergusson Bobai, said: “I don’t have any report yet to suggest that militants are back in those areas.”

The Inspector-General of Po­lice, Mr. Idris Ibrahim, on August 4, 2016, visited Isawo creeks and was briefed about the activities of the militants. - The Authority