TheCable

Residents of Isawo in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state, are currently living in fear, following the killings of soldiers and policemen by suspected Niger Delta militants.

Tola Olalekan, one of the residents, who confirmed this to TheCable, said the tragic incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday.

“As I speak to you now, soldiers and policemen have taken over our area,” he told TheCable on telephone.

“Driving in and out is very difficult. We are living in fear. These militants started returning to our area last month. Security forces had overpowered them in August and we were all in peace.

“No one can move close to the police station on Isawo road. The whole place is a no-go area. I am driving now, and I have lost count of the number of Op MESA (a special security outfit in the state) vans that have sped past my car.

“Why can’t these criminals allow us to live in peace?”

Another resident said police helicopters have been hovering the area since last night.

He said some civilians were also killed in the latest militant attack.

It is not clear the number of people that were killed, but there are reports in the media that five policemen and two soldiers were killed.

Olarinde Famous-Cole, spokesman of the Lagos state police command, could not be reached as his telephone was out of reach.

Last month when residents first raised the alarm over the return of the suspects, Famous-Cole had said more police patrol teams would be deployed in the area.

He urged residents to provide useful information on the activities of the suspected militants.

On his part, Fergusson Bobai, flag officer commanding, Western Naval command, had said: “I don’t have any report yet to suggest that militants are back in those areas.

“But Lagos state governor has approved the return of swamp buggies to open up the creeks in those areas to enable us carry out in-depth patrols.”

The swamp buggy is a vehicle used to traverse boggy swamp terrain.

Buggies are able to move about on dry land, shallow mud, sand, shallow water and deep mud.

The militants, mostly kidnappers and pipeline vandals, killed many people in the community before the government was forced to deploy a joint military taskforce in the area.