Ibafo residents complain as police drink beer while thugs attack killing 85 year old

RESIDENTS of Halleluyah Quaters in the Ibafo area of Ogun State have complained bitterly about the nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian Police Force after several officers drank beer nearby while hoodlums attacked their community killing an 85 year old.

 

Yesterday, armed thugs attacked the community, killing 85-year-old Islamic cleric, Kareem Olaiya and raided several houses, abducting a landlord, Scott Odum, after his property was looted. One of his children, who begged the gunmen not to take him away, was hit with the butt of a gun.

 

Although the attack reportedly occurred around 2am, as of 12pm yesterday, no security agent had visited the community. Apparently, some policemen sat near an armoured tank marked, F-SARS, in front of the Ibafo Police Station, guzzling beer from bottles in three crates.

 

Local resident, Bode, said: “I was having a vigil with my wife when I observed some movements around the house. I initially thought they were local vigilantes but immediately I sensed they were militants, I quickly switched off my lights.

 

“However, they found their way inside the house and threatened to kill me if I made any phone call. A second man pointed a gun at me and asked me to lie down and I complied and while they were ransacking my property, one of them saw a logo and said I was a policeman but I told them it had nothing to do with the police and quickly showed them my ID card to debunk the claim.”

 

One of the children of the late Islamic cleric, Abdulganiyu, said his father died from shock after the gunmen fired into the air. He explained that the kidnappers had targeted Bode’s landlord, whose house was opposite theirs, adding that the landlord had left the community the previous day.

 

A other resident, said some landlords mobilised to stop the gunmen from escaping with Odum after the police failed to intervene. One community leader wondered why the police refused to come to their aid, saying each time there was an attack, the police always left the community to its fate.

 

He added: “The acting inspector-general of police said he had deployed a mobile police force to Ibafo but these men only watch over the police station and drink alcohol. They don’t fight the militants.”

 

Police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi, said, however, that the police are not aware of the attack. He urged the complainants to take their case to the divisional police officer.