THREE people, including a 22-year-old man identified as Abdulmalik Bakare, were reportedly killed when suspected cultists invaded the Oreta community in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, has left residents shaken, with many calling for justice and improved security in the area.
Speaking yesterday, the father of the deceased, Tunde Bakare, said six suspects had been arrested in connection with the killings.
He added that the Divisional Police Officer assured the family that a thorough investigation would be conducted.
Residents told reporters that the violence was linked to an earlier altercation involving a trailer driver and a group of youths along Gbogbo Road.
According to eyewitness accounts, some youths allegedly stopped a trailer transporting a container and demanded money from the driver, who insisted that payment had already been made to individuals at a nearby junction.
During the dispute, one of the youths who reportedly climbed onto the trailer was trapped beneath its tyres and died.
Police authorities were said to have intervened and treated the incident as an accident.
However, residents alleged that the death triggered retaliation later that evening.
Armed men reportedly arrived in the community on motorcycles around 8 p.m. and opened fire indiscriminately.
A resident identified simply as Fasasi said Abdulmalik was preparing to close his shop when he was shot and killed.
He added that a physically challenged child and another individual who had come to purchase fish were also killed during the attack.
Several shops and business premises were reportedly vandalized as the attackers moved through the community.
The identities of the other victims had not been officially confirmed at the time of reporting.
The attack caused widespread panic, forcing residents to flee while commercial activities were disrupted across the area.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Lagos State Police Command were unsuccessful, as calls and messages sent to the command’s spokesperson, CSP Abimbola Adebisi, were not answered before publication.
