Badoo strikes again, injures four at Owode Ajegunle

• Suspected child kidnapper lynched in Ikorodu • Blow your whistle when in distress, get machetes for self-defence, residents urged

Dreaded ritual cult group, Badoo, terrorising Ikorodu in Lagos State yesterday struck at Owode Ajegunle, injuring two women and their children.The incident occurred at a Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Aladura, situated at No. 4, Victor Anibaba Street, Owode Weigh Bridge, Ajegunle.

Tuesday’s attack was the first in Ajegunle since the murderous gang went on killing spree. Two women, who are members of the church are battling to survive at the Ikorodu General Hospital after the attack.

The victims, who were simply identified as Iya Dabira and Iya Ayomide were said to have gone to the church for prayers. The suspected Badoo members were said to have scale the fence into the church to perpetuate the crime.

It was learnt that after the church vigil, which ended around 2a.m., worshippers, including women and children slept in a separate part of the church, only for the suspected Badoo members to invade the church around 2:30a.m. and attacked them while they were asleep.

It was gathered that a two-year-old child, who went to the church with her mother was also affected. Although the state of the children could not be ascertained as at press time, earlier reports indicated that they died on the spot.

The Guardian gathered that it was the screaming of other members of the church who noticed the attack that alerted the pastor, who was sleeping in his room within the church premises.

Mr. Rotimi Ajidara, the presiding pastor, said he was asleep when some members came to inform him about the massacre in the church. “Immediately, I went straight to the church, only to find the two women and their daughters in the pool of their blood and I alerted some of my neighbours who called the attention of other residents.

“Since I have been hearing about the killings by Badoo, I never knew they would come to my church. After checking round, it was discovered that they scaled through the fence into the church to cause the harm.

“I don’t know what to tell the families of the victims, because they only came to my church for vigil. My prayer now is that God heal the two women and their daughters who are still battling to survive now.”

Meanwhile, a woman suspected to be a child kidnapper was burnt to death at Allinson Junction after a mob allegedly found a list containing specification and prices of children.According to Rasheed Fatuga, a source whose name he refused to disclosed said the mob overpowered the local vigilantes and police to lynch the woman.

He said: “The woman was in her 40s and she was suspected to be a kidnapper. She was noticed by a meat seller and a fruit vendor at Allinson Junction, near United High School, Ikorodu. She was acting like a mad woman but she suddenly stepped to a secluded area to receive a phone call.

“When they saw it, they immediately accosted her but she couldn’t defend herself. People soon gathered and she was taken to Onyabo’s office at CAC Road. On getting there, she was interrogated by the Deputy Chairman of Onyabo. They searched her bag and found an IPhone 7, juju ring and a list containing descriptions of children such as age range, heights and price tags.

“She confessed that she came from Isolo and she was not alone. She said that others fled immediately she was caught. The vigilantes called the police to take the suspect but the mob, which demanded jungle justice, did not allow the operatives take the suspect.
She was immediately set ablaze. Even the police could not control the crowd. They just collected her phone and said they would get classified information from it,” he said.
 
Residents of Ikorodu now sleep with machetes and whistles as survival strategies against the dreaded Badoo cult, terrorising the area. Investigation yesterday revealed that virtually every household in Ikorodu now has whistles and machetes and other implements for self-defense.

A resident in distress is expected to blow the whistle many times to signal the presence of Badoo cultists. Mr. Kazeem Yusuf, the chairman of the Egba-Otun Community Development Association (CDA) in Itaolowu, Ikorodu, told newsmen that residents had resorted to self-help.He said able bodied-people in families were being drafted by the CDA to participate in vigilance keeping during the night. “The whistle when blown for long will indicate the presence of those terrorising us. It will urge close residents to come to the aid of the whistle blower so that the bad people can be over-powered,” he said.