A Lagos-based comedian, Chinedu Paul, aka Think Twice, has been identified as one of the three persons mistaken for members of the Badoo cult and lynched on Saturday by angry residents in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
This is just as residents continued to buy weapons, especially cutlasses, in a desperate move to stop the Badoo members who are known for ritual killings, and have killed no fewer than 26 people in the last one year.
Within a week, six persons nabbed by residents across communities in Ikorodu as suspected Badoo members, were said to have been lynched.
Residents, who were keeping vigils, had flagged down a Honda C-RV with three occupants at about 2am on Saturday in the Odogunyan area.
They reportedly found in the vehicle some quantities of diesel and a big stone, usually used by Badoo members to smash the heads of their victims.
A resident had noted that the suspects told the vigilantes that they were on their way to tow a vehicle that broke down somewhere.
However, the vigilantes, who were unsatisfied with the explanation, set them ablaze together with the car.
Paul, a master of ceremony, was discovered to be one of the victims of the jungle justice.
A friend of the deceased, Ajibolade Oluwafemi, in a post on Facebook, said the two other victims were Paul’s mechanics.
Paul’s pictures, a selfie with a lady and a screenshot of his performance, were posted along with the update.
In two other pictures, which he reportedly took on the night of the incident, the comedian appeared alongside a popular TV host, IK Osakioduwa. He wore a cap with the inscription, ‘Eleda Masun’ (My Creator, stay awake).
Paul’s friend, Oluwafemi wrote on Facebook that the comedian was indeed in company with his mechanics to tow his faulty vehicle when they were flagged down.
He wrote, “You guys have just killed an innocent boy. How many more innocent people will you guys kill when the real Badoo guys are out there doing evil? RIP my friend, Chinedu Paul (MC think2ice). I wish your car didn’t break down that night. Please, say no to jungle justice because your brother may be next.”
It was said that Paul was returning from IK’s talk show when his vehicle broke down on Saturday.
In a related development, PUNCH Metro gathered that another suspected member of the gang was caught on Monday in the Benson area of Ikorodu.
The suspect was, however, handed over to soldiers.
PUNCH Metro gathered on Monday that many residents had bought cutlasses and other weapons out of desperation to fight the gang to a standstill.
A member of Onyabo, a local vigilance group, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a series of meetings had been ongoing in various community development associations in Ikorodu.
He said, “Part of the discussion at the meetings is the need for residents, both landlords and tenants, to defend themselves and their families against Badoo. Residents, who do not have cutlasses, have gone to buy and they are ready to keep vigils. People are angry, and it does not seem they are ready to hand over suspects to the police, let alone Onyabo.”
A resident, who did not want to be identified, said all landlords in the community had taken up the duty of policing their houses, adding that women also kept vigils.
He said, “The Badoo situation has reached a critical level. Everybody is involved. All landlords in Ikorodu no longer sleep. They keep watch over their houses with cutlasses and other weapons. Badoo members don’t use guns or cutlasses. All they have are just stones and handkerchiefs they use to wipe the blood of their victims for ritual purposes. They cannot be so powerful that nobody can handle them.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, has yet to react to the lynching and the desperate measures adopted by residents of the Ikorodu area.
www.sojworld.com © July 4, 2017.
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