Soldiers on security watch oppress Yoruba community – Agiliti residents

Residents of Agiliti, one of four troubled streets in the Mile 12 area of Lagos mainland are crying out over the excesses of soldiers attached to the community by the state government.

A curfew is currently in place in the area from 7pm to 7am as a result of the crisis which occurred two weeks ago when members of Hausa and Yoruba communities engaged one another in bursts of violence and destruction that lasted for three days, resulting in the death of 10 people including children.

About 20 houses and 25 cars were also burnt in the process.

Although Lagos State Government’s swift reaction was to close down the market and imposed curfew in the most troubled areas, namely Oniyyanrin, Maidan, Agiliti 1 and Agiliti 2 respectively, about nine days of effecting the curfew has uncovered a problem inherent in the two tribes involved – the Hausa and Yoruba communities, a fact both government and royal fathers of the state deny vehemently.

One of the affected residents who lost his home and car to the violence, Mr. Gbolahan Akingbola raised the fear on Thursday March 3rd, the second day of the crisis when he told newsmen that security agents sent to quell the crisis had not helped the situation:

“When the police came from Ketu, Mile 12 and Alapere, they left the issue and began to take side with the Hausa people; they teargased us as if we are the criminals and that empowered the Hausa people to descend on the non Hausa community and started killing, burning and looting peoples’ shops.”

When the allegation was put to the Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, he responded, “that is their perception, and they are entitled to it.”

In his address to the feuding communities that same week, Gov Ambode had also waived a possible ethnic problem in Mile 12 aside when he said, “Let me assure Lagosians that the state is home to every tribe and ethnic group and nobody should give this disturbance any ethnic colouration whatsoever. Every law abiding citizen should go about their normal businesses.”

To give the problem a further cover and shield it from being recognised, Oba Samuel Oloyede of Ikosi in Lagos recently affirmed that, “Lagos is a melting pot of ethnic nationalities in the country, so I wonder why some people incessantly threaten and upset the diversity of the state.”

“And that is the problem we are living with here,” said Akingbola; “The soldiers currently abusing us were drafted by Governor Ambode to maintain peace and order in the area, but even this has been tribalised.”

Residents who spoke in confidence to our correspondent said by 6pm every day, residents who are coming from work – who enter the community to access their homes are being manhandled by the military men.

“We are being molested and forced to sit on the road littered with shattered bottles; other times they force us to hold our two ears and jump like frog (frog jump).”

Another set of residents said they were commanded to sing for about 30 minutes before they were allowed to go home.

A nurse, Ms Kemi Onaolapo who works in Ikeja told journalists in her home on Friday that when she got to the military checkpoint on Thursday at 6pm – one hour before the curfew started – she was ordered to sit among a group of people on the road, who were also returning from work.

She said, “We were asked to sit on the road littered with broken bottles. They said we should be singing songs, both Christian and Islamic songs. As we were doing that, they commanded us to hold ourselves by the waist. A married man held my wait. I could not resist. I also held a man’s waist in front of me.

“We did that for 45 minutes, and this was about 15 minutes before the curfew was supposed to start. They shouted at us to run after the exercise. To another group, they commanded them to frog jump for the whole time. Different people were doing different humiliating treatment. These soldiers’ excesses are too much. They should jut search us and let us go.”

A bank employee who lives in the area and pleaded anonymity stated that when he got to the checkpoint on Wednesday around 6.30pm, he saw people forced to kneel on the road. “The curfew starts 7pm, but the soldiers have made it 6pm. But what I could not understand is why they are torturing people. I was driving, so they just searched my car and let me go. But I was angry when I saw men in suit sitting on the road. What sort of rubbish is that?”

But his own day of encounter came the next day, a Thursday when he got to the checkpoint around 11pm due to the nature of his work. “I had to bribe the soldiers with N5,000 before I was allowed to go.”

“They make people like us to sweep the road for 30 minutes every morning before they let us go,” another resident said.

The state government should know that anyone working outside the Mainland expected to resume 8 am must need leave home about 5am to beat the gridlock on Lagos roads – and that means two hours before the curfew ends at dawn.

Meanwhile, residents are alleging that the soldiers are not extending this practice to the Hausa neighbourhood of the same area

Mrs. Priscilla Oke, a trader on Agiliti 2 told our correspondent that as of 6pm when the soldiers start ‘drilling’ those entering Agiliti, the Hausa residents at Mile 12 are still being allowed to sell their goods and walk in the streets.

“The soldiers are openly discriminating against us in this regard. We want to plead with Governor Ambode to look into this matter. It is what we have been passing through since this curfew started. Their excesses are getting too much. Imagine them making a married man to hold my waist and sing. They need to be stopped. There is now peace in the area.”

Some residents fear that even after the Mile 12 market is relocated; for so long as the Hausa community still cohabits side by side with the Yoruba community, the problem will not seize.

“The Hausa people see themselves as the lord over the Yoruba people. I don’t get it. Are we really in our own state and soil? Is Lagos state government pretending not to know that Hausa people have taken over Lagos state right under his watch?” the people asked.

At the Alausa seat of government, no official was ready to entertain any question on the issue. “I am a civil servant and cannot speak to you. The commissioner for information is not available. Good day.