The emergence of a criminal gang engaged in diabolical cult activities mostly on the outskirts of Ikorodu, Lagos State, has grave implications for security in the state. It adds to the increasing anomie in the country, with dire consequences for peaceful living and development.
Ikorodu has had it coming for a while now, with each new report coming out of the town portending lawlessness, criminality and impunity, formerly of oil pipeline vandals and lately, an upsurge in kidnappings. The emergence of the so-called Badoo cult, which kills whole families living in remote areas of the state allegedly for ritual purposes is, however, the height of the shocking criminal activities in the town.
No one can say for sure when the dastardly gang emerged, but its nefarious activities crept into public consciousness around the middle of last year. And, between June 2016 and last week, the gang murdered over 34 people, most of them whole families, including women and children. Its modus operandi is as intriguing as its choice of victims. Members of the gang trail their victims to their homes in isolated places at odd hours, and burst their heads with grinding stones. The allegation that they usually collect the blood of these victims in white handkerchiefs which they sell at prices up to N500, 000 should be investigated.
The members of the gang are known to smear their bodies with oil, especially engine oil, which makes them slippery to the touch and difficult to apprehend.
The activities of this murderous gang have nonetheless come as a rude shock to most residents of Ikorodu in particular, and the nation at large. The question on the lips of every sane person is how the security situation in the town degenerated to this heinous level. The most recent attack of the gang was launched at a ‘white garment’ church in the Owode-Onirin, Mile 12 axis of Ikorodu. A woman and her two young children had their heads smashed in the unmistakable, gruesome manner of the Badoo gang.
This was just after the arrest of over 100 suspected members of the gang by a joint operation of the local vigilante, police and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), which is the local security group for the entire South-West.
The murderous activities of this deadly gang indicate that no part of the neighbouring communities and the state is safe. In fact, uncorroborated evidence already points to the existence of various camps of the gang in Ogun State. What is clear is that the people living in remote settlements around the creeks are vulnerable to attacks from these criminal elements.
This troubling situation makes one wonder where the police have been while the Badoo boys increased their monstrous activities. Even more important in this apparent failure to identify this threat to peaceful living and nip it in the bud is the failure of intelligence gathering. One would have expected the police to have mobilised resources to decisively curtail the emerging threat to lives and property in Ikorodu particularly, given the gradual build-up. It was inevitable that the problem would escalate.
It is the failure of the police to nip this gang in the bud that has resulted in the panic arrest of 100 suspects in one fell swoop as we saw recently. The dangerous gang has been allowed to sink its roots in the affected communities and the police are only just now waking up to their responsibility. Now, the traumatised people of Ikorodu are resorting to self-help and jungle justice, and there are cries of misapplication of justice. The police have to properly profile the 100 arrested suspects to ensure that innocent citizens are not wrongly labeled and prosecuted.
The Badoo killings in Ikorodu call for a revisit of our security architecture, especially with regard to community policing. The point has been made on how police personnel from far-flung places cannot effectively curb crime in communities whose languages and culture they do not know or understand. This is one of the problems of federal policing which we must address as soon as possible.