Published 25th Aug, 2021

By Tola Owoyele

On Saturday, armed thugs believed to be land grabbers invaded Gberigbe, a community on the outskirts of Ikorodu, Lagos State, killing six residents and a police officer.

On Tuesday, a Gberigbe resident, who asked not to be named, told FIJ that the gang, the Koboko Boys, had been displaced by a similarly notorious gang who took charge of seizure and sale of lands in the community.

“A few months back, a group of land-grabbers known as the Koboko Boys, used to be in charge of anything that had to do with seizure and sale of lands in this community.”

“But later, a new gang known as the Idaso Boys invaded our community and chased out the Koboko Boys in a bloodbath. With the Koboko Boys out of the picture, the Idaso Boys seized lands from real owners and resold them.”

According to the source, Koboko boys sneaked into Gberigbe on Friday night after months in exile and carried out an attack in the early hours of Saturday.

“The funniest part was that the Police were actually aware of an imminent attack through an intelligence report on Friday night and some of their officers spent the night in Gberigbe. Despite that, the Koboko Boys still carried out the attack,” he said.

“During the violence that lasted for hours, they killed a police officer and six civilians. The mood among residents of Gberigbe now is quite tense.

“Despite heavy police presence everywhere, we are all afraid in Gberigbe. This is because the police were present on Saturday morning when they attacked. It also means they can choose to still attack the community again, despite knowing the police are here.”

John also said a few residents had fled the community because of the incident.

When FIJ contacted Adekunle Ajisebutu, Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson, he said Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos State Police Commissioner, would soon release a statement on the attack.

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