Woman, grandchild killed during Lagos cult clash

One-year-old Opeyemi Yusuf was licking a lollipop, comfortably straddled to her grandma’s back en route to the market, when a bullet pierced through the back of their tricycle.

It hit Opeyemi in the head and penetrated to Mrs. Osayemi Victoria’s head, killing both victims on the spot.

Opeyemi was her mother’s only child, while the 57-year-old grandma was reportedly visiting when tragedy struck.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the tricycle they boarded ran into the middle of a gun battle between rival cult groups along Ishawo Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The incident, which happened on Tuesday, was said to have created confusion as residents ran helter-skelter.

The driver of the tricycle, Awoyemi Olaoluwa, said the single bullet pierced through the nylon back side of the tricycle and hit the duo who was in the middle.

The other two passengers, on the right and left, escaped unhurt.

Olaoluwa said, “I had picked Mama at Total bus stop. She was my second passenger and she was backing the child. I later picked another passenger along the road and she moved to the middle.

“I was heading towards the Agric bus stop along Ishawo Road. But when we got to Mechanic Village bus stop, I started hearing gunshots.

“My passengers asked me to hurry because there was a fight in the area. I was told the cultists were on motorcycles and were chasing and shooting at one another.

“We had not moved too far when I saw that the woman’s head was bowed and resting on my back seat.”

He said his clothes had also become soaked in blood.

The other passengers, who suddenly realised what had happened, were said to have raised the alarm.

“My passengers told me to stop. That was when I knew Mama and the child had been hit by a stray bullet,” he added.

The tricycle driver was said to have called for help as the other passengers alighted and mixed with a crowd of people that had formed around the scene.

PUNCH Metro learnt that instead of helping the victims, the people started using their camera phones to take snapshots of the woman and the baby, who still had the lollipop stuck to his mouth.

Policemen from the Owutu division were said to have been alerted to the scene.

Our correspondent gathered that the corpses were first taken to the police station before they were deposited at the Ikorodu General Hospital morgue.

Opeyemi’s mother, Bukola, a teacher, said she was supposed to be in the tricycle with her mother, because they had planned to go to the market together.

She said, “My mother came from Ekiti to Lagos. She had spent one month with us.

“We were to go to the market together. She collected Opeyemi from me and put him on her back. But as we were on the way, I remembered that I left my phone at home and told her I was going to pick it.

“I told her to wait for me at the bus stop. It was long after when I was called that something terrible had happened. I got to the place and saw the bodies of my son and my mother.”

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victims’ family members were only interested in burying both victims in their hometown in Ekiti State.

A police source, however, assured that the police would intensify investigation to apprehend the suspects.

He said, “We will get the culprits.

“Nobody can do this kind of thing and go scot-free. The blood of the innocent child will hunt them. They will have no rest.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, said he would call back.

But he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

Source:Punch