NORMALCY has finally returned to Ajah in Lagos State, two weeks after a communal clash claimed the lives of about six persons and left several others dead.
The clash is reported to have been sparked by a misunderstanding between youths known as Ajah, Olumegbon and Ilaje Boys, along the Lekki-Epe-Expressway, Lagos.
When The Guardian visited the community, last week, residents who had fled because for fear of reprisal, had returned and business activities had resumed.
There are different accounts on how the fracas started. A version said a fight broke out on a football pitch, following a misunderstanding between Olumegbon and Ajah Boys. Another said that Olumegbon Boys, on their way to a peacekeeping meeting at Ajah Motor Park, were ambushed by Ajah boys, who killed some of them in the process.
A source at the community said that Ilaje Boys were not involved at the initial stage but they joined when fleeing Ajah Boys attempted to pass through their territory.
The corpses of two Olumegbon Boys were reportedly taken to the palace of the traditional leader, where the youths mourned their loss, with each faction vowing a reprisal.
Dangerous weapons, like broken bottles, axes, knives and locally made guns were reportedly used during the fight.
It took the combined effort of regular policemen and reinforcement from Mobile policemen, drafted from the Area J Command, Ajah, to bring the conflict under control.
The traditional leader of Ajah, Chief Fatai Lawal Olumegbon, was later arrested in connection with the unrest and taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja.
He was accused of masterminding the crisis. A search for arms was also carried out on his palace.
He has since been released.
When The Guardian visited the palace to speak with the ruler on the allegation leveled against him, he was said to be away.
But his media officer, Peter Fowoyo, debunked the allegation. He said that antagonists of the traditional ruler staged the arrest and fracas.
He said that the traditional ruler had raised an alarm in a Save Our Soul letter to the Area J Police Command, a copy of which was shown The Guardian.
The letter detailed how a caller, who identified himself as leader of a terrorist gang, had threatened via a phone call to “to gun down two or three people” to perpetrate a crisis.
The Area Commander claimed he didn’t see the letter, however, the Commissioner of Police, who was copied, acknowledged receipt.
“I would like to make a passionate appeal to you, sir, to do everything humanly possible to prevent any form of pandemonium rearing its ugly head in Ajah again,” the letter read in part.
Fowoyo said that a report of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the tribunal of inquiry into Ajah land dispute, and the High Court of Lagos State confirmed the Olumegbon of Lagos as the overlord of Ajah and Okun Ajah in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state.
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