Residents of Mile 12, a community in the Kosofe area of Lagos State, have lamented how they’ve been living in fear since some yet-to-be identify cultists hacked Sulaimon Onaolapo, otherwise known as Ariku, a Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), to death.
In a viral video on social media, the cultists numbering about four, were captured hacking Ariku with cutlasses till he gave up the ghost.
Expressing their fears since the incident happened, the Mile 12 residents stated that going by precedent, a reprisal attack by Ariku’s loyalists is imminent.
“The fights among NURTW people have been happening for some time. We are afraid that they might continue this violence next week,” a resident of the area, one Mary Olayemi stated.
She added, “When we heard the gunshots, we ran into a compound and when all was clear, we saw that Onaolapo (Ariku) had been killed with machetes.
“We heard that they had been looking for him and around 12pm yesterday, that they tracked him and got him.”
Also expressing fear, a trader, who gave her name only as Adejare said “many shop owners did not open for business and those who did are careful because anything can happen. My family members must not know that I am in the market but I have to sell.”
Another resident, who identified herself only as Alhaja Akingbade for security reasons, lamented that her husband’s car was set ablaze in what she suspected to be a reprisal attack.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Army, have deployed their detectives to restore law and order in the community.