There was pandemonium at the Palm Church/Aroloya Junction on the Lagos Island, on Wednesday, when some teenagers rioted after a football match, hacking a boy to death.
Our correspondent learnt that the teenagers, who were armed with machetes, were returning from a football match at the Campos Stadium when a fight broke out between two factions.
The teenagers were suspected to be cult members.
The football match was played around 1am at the stadium.
It was learnt that the victim, identified only as Gulf 2, who was a spectator, was killed on Aroloya Street when the fight started around 2.30am.
Our correspondent learnt that the match was part of the community’s football competition played at the stadium.
The teenagers, after killing Gulf 2, were said to have engaged in a free-for-all.
Policemen from the Adeniji Adele Police Division reportedly swooped on the Aroloya area, forcing the rampaging teenagers to flee.
The corpse of the victim was taken to the morgue by the police.
When PUNCH Metro visited Aroloya Street on Wednesday, a resident, who identified himself as Kareem Popoola, said nobody knew the name or the family members of the slain boy.
Popoola said the fight was over some bottles of drink which the boys shared after the match.
He said, “There was a competition at the stadium. The football matches were usually played between 1am and 4am. The stadium was lighted because of the match. Policemen were usually outside. The fight started after a match on Wednesday.
“Some teenagers were drinking and the fans of the other team came to their side and poured their drinks away. I do not know who won the match. So, the two groups started fighting. Gulf 2 and some other boys were pursued to Aroloya Street.
“They hurled stones at their victims and the boy fell. That was how they hacked him to death. We put a distress call to the Adeniji Adele Divisional Police Officer, who came around with his men, but the teenagers ran away when they saw police vans.
“The clash engulfed Palm Church, Itafaji and Aroloya streets. Till now, we cannot identify the boy; we do not know his address. When they heard the policemen shooting, all of them took to their heels.”
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said street fights among teenagers were becoming rampant in the Lagos Island area, adding that the police should arrest the hoodlums.
He said, “These boys do not live on our streets. The oldest among them is around 17 years old.
“They do not rob, but they walk about in the night, smoking hemp and fighting one another. As adults, we are also afraid of them. There is always bloodshed anywhere they fight.
“They start coming out by 1am. The government should raid the Lagos Island and pick all these teenagers. We want all these boys to be arrested. No responsible teenager walks around in the night.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the killing, adding that efforts were on to arrest the hoodlums.
She said, “Information was received that some miscreants engaged one another in a supremacy fight in the area.
“Police patrol teams went to the area, but the hoodlums took to their heels. The corpse of one of them was recovered.
“The victim’s name and address are still unknown. The corpse has been removed and deposited at the Lagos Island General Hospital’s morgue for an autopsy. Meanwhile, effort is on to arrest the fleeing hoodlums.”
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