A clash between some thugs and one of the soldiers deployed to a construction site along Railway, Otto in Lagos Mainland has left a young man identified simply as Lekan reportedly shot dead.
It was gathered that a tarmac is being constructed in the area by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), the operator of Lagos Rail Mass Transit, for the maintenance of railways.
It was also gathered that the construction company in charge of the project recently started building a fence to separate the tarmac from the neigbouring communities, but the residents kicked against it, saying the fence would deny them easy access to the main road.
The company was said to have continued building the fence despite complaints by the affected communities – Odaliki Botanical Garden, Ifesowapo Jones Otto/Ilogbo Extension Community Development Association, Ilogbo Shemore CDA and Ifeoluwa Rail Line CDA.
The matter came to a head around 10am on Saturday, 26 August, 2023 when some thugs complained over the fence.
The gang leader identified as Dagbe reportedly confronted one of the soldiers providing security for workers on the site. In the ensuing confrontation between the duo, Lekan was said to have intervened.
“The clash occurred around 10am on Saturday and the corpse of the person that was shot was taken away by the police that were mobilised to the scene,” Chairman, Ifesowapo CDA, Mr Ishola Agbodemu, said.
“The boys wanted to regroup and strike but we had to prevail on them. The communities don’t have any issue with the government. We are only appealing to the Lagos State Government to consider our request for easy access to the road which the fence has denied us,” he added.
As at the time of filing this report, the state is yet to confirm the development.
