Badoo Killings: Vigilante grp vows to unravel perpetrators, sponsors with traditional methodology

As OPC allege they lure members with promise of ‘employment’, N250,000 ‘empowerment
*Police order residents to carry ID cards or risk arrest in Ikorodu
*No hiding place for Badoo gang in Ogun, says CP

An end seems to be in sight for the bizarre killings of innocent residents in Ikorodu area of Lagos, as the Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corp (LNSC) has vowed to unravel the perpetrators and their sponsors.

This is coming on the heels of an order by the Lagos state police command that all residents of Ikorodu and environs should always move around with a valid identity card as the police will be engaging in series of raids to rid the community of criminal elements such as the dreaded Badoo cult group.

This is even as the coordinator of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, has alleged that the Badoo cult group uses promise of employment and distribution of N250,000 empowerment money to lure people into their gang.

Also, the Ogun state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliasu, has vowed that there would not be any hidding place for Badoo gang which has been on the prowl by killing people in some parts of Lagos state.

The CP who spoke on Tuesday while parading 37 suspects at the state command’s headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta said that the police are battle ready for the dreaded boys if they enter the state.

The CP disclosed that the command had made tactical, compact deployment and improved on its intelligence network towards taming criminal activities in the state with its community policing.

The chairman of the LNSC, DIG Israel Ajao (rtd) who dropped the hint on Tuesday in Lagos, disclosed that the group will adopt traditional methodology in unraveling the mystery behind the killings.

Ajao pointed out that the killings have a ritual undertone, lamenting that the menace has become a disturbing trend.

He asserted that there is the need for security operatives to go beyond conventional approach in tackling the ritual killings if it must be stopped.

The LNSC boss who spoke during a forum with Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) informed that the corp it determined to mobilise Ikorodu residents to get involved in the task of battling the perpetrators.

His words, “The Badoo attack is a bizarre way of killing that we must find a solution to. We want to move a bit from the Bado boys and move deeper to unravel those behind them. We will be discreet about it, we will be fair.

Bado is becoming a disturbing trend, they don’t go with arms but stones. There is more to it than meets the eyes; it cannot be classified as murder but ritual (killing). We are going to hold a meeting with Ikorodu people, we are going all out next week to meet a cross section of the people to sensitize and remind them that Nigeria was never like this before. Before the advent of the police, there is traditional method of policing, we want to know those behind this act.”

Speaking further, Ajao said it is the collective responsibility of all residents speaking out against violent crimes, noting that the community would continue to suffer if residents fail to play their part.

“You see someone on Okada today, tomorrow he is on jeep, if you fail to speak out so that we find out the source of his wealth, the community will continue to suffer,” the LNSC boss stressed.

He therefore urged residents to play their part by giving information about criminals in their communities to security agencies for prompt action.

While commenting on the schedules of the LNSC, Ajao clarified that was not established to rival the Nigeria Police, but to place a complimentary role.

“Our objectives according to the law assented to by Governor Ambode is to ensure the safety of lives and property and in performing those duties, we are not a substitute to the police but compliment their services”, Ajao clarified.

The Lagos state police command in a press statement issued and signed by the its spokesperson, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, on Tuesday, said the directive on identity cards is to ensure that innocent persons are not arrested during the series of planned raid.

Famous-Cole who stated that the order takes immediate effect from Tuesday July 4th, 2017, advised all residents, students, workers and everyone who would be moving around the area to hid to the directive to avoid been picked by the police.

He noted that, “henceforth everybody moving around that part of the state, residents, students or workers should always have on them a valid form of identification.

“This has become important and necessary because of the series of police operations lined up in the area by the Lagos state police command led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations.

“The Lagos state police command is deeply concerned about the criminal activities in the area which is not only unlawful but also affecting the integrity of the state.

“The planned police operations demands residents to carry on them a valid form of identification which will be verified, in order not to be restricted or face apprehension as adequate security arrangements have been put in place for the safety of every Nigerian throughout the state by the police and other security agencies.”

Speaking to a select group of journalists in his office, the OPC leader said, the cult group, “recruit by putting up vacancy and requesting for applicants to apply, by the time you apply, you will be asked to come for interview, you will be recruited and given some money. They also designed some measure of giving money to some people as empowerment to recruit. In some cases, they give as much as N250,000 to lure people to the cult,” he alleged.

Gani Adams also alleged that some highly placed individuals are behind the group going by their mode of operation and the financial resources available to it, “It is very clear that their operation is more than just being a criminal activity. From what we heard, they normally buy the handkerchiefs from these criminals for as high as N500,000, N1m, some even go as high as paying N1.5m for a blood-soaked handkerchief. How can a common man afford such an amount of money? It is clear that this is being organised by some prominent people.”