Blog

The glamorous lovers’ day celebration on Monday turned bloody at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) when gunmen killed two students. Daily Sun gathered that the clash was between two rival cult groups, namely, Black Axe and the Buccaneers,’ over a female student allegedly snatched by the Capone of the Black Axe for Valentine celebration.

The action of the Capone , the source said did not go down well with the other group leading to the clash.
A student who witnessed the shooting said besides the two cult members who were shot dead, about four others sustained injuries and were ferried out of the campus by their leaders to shield their identity.

The sources said the cult members who carried out the attack were not UNILAG students but members from another campus, adding that the attack was carried out in a commando style with sporadic shooting.
An undergraduate student of English Department told Daily Sun that the Buccaneers’ group attacked the Black Axe members while another student returning from the Mosque said those who carried out the killing were not from UNILAG because they did not cover their faces.

It was learnt that as soon the shooting started, students scampered for safety while others took cover behind the wall and under cars packed around, while others ran into the halls to avoid being hit by stray bullets. 
A senior lecturer who confirmed the killings said the university management had met to curtail any reprisal attack while security personnel had taken over the investigation of the deadly cult clash.
When Daily Sun visited the troubled institution yesterday, there was uneasy calm, as most staff and students rebuffed efforts made by the reporters to get their comments.

However, one of the students who resides at Sodeinde Hall, said there was sporadic gunshots outside the premises which caused panic everywhere. 
It was gathered that the crisis, which erupted when the students were at the peak of lovers’ day celebration, created stampede on the campus as people ran for safety.

One of the victims of the attack reportedly ran into Sodeinde Hall for help, from where he was taken to the hospital.
Although the Hall Master of Sodeinde Hall declined comments on the issue, one of the officials, who wouldn’t want his name published, said the attack could not be linked to any cult group. He said there was increasing speculation that the perpetrators of the attack could be fighting for love. Efforts made by Daily Sun our reporter to ascertain the identities of the victims were unsuccessful.
The news bulletin of the university, Information Flash (ISSN 08195540) also captured the incident, while assuring the staff and students of the university of adequate security.

“The attention of the universities authorities has been drawn to the incident which occurred in one of the Halls of Residence in the late hours of Monday, February 14, 2011 where two persons were reportedly injured in fracas. The university management has commenced investigation into the unusual incident, in particular at a time when preparation for the first semester examinations due to commence on February 21, 2011 are in top gear. Security has been intensified to ensure safety of life and property on campus. Law enforcement agents have been involved to assist the university in this respect,” it said. 
Daily Sun learnt that students are leaving the campus because of the fear of reprisal attack while some parents called their wards on phone to return home until the situation is brought under control. 

The Deputy Registrar Information of UNILAG, Mr. Dare Adebisi refused to pick his calls or replied to text message sent to his phone.
When the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Samuel Jinadu (DSP) was called thrice, he promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area and did not call back as at the press time....

It took a few weeks for Chioma Akachi to accept that her money was truly gone. She had saved N2,000 daily for 22 days with the local ‘ajo’ man popularly called Mr. Matthew, who made rounds every week day at shops and homes in Fola-Agoro and Akoka areas of Lagos. ‘Ajo’ is a Yoruba term that refers to contributory savings, usually by workers, petty traders and small scale business owners, and managed by an individual who gets a percentage of the money gathered at a time as his or her benefit.

Operating under the business name ‘Matt Daily Savings’, he collected an agreed amount from interested savers for 31 days and deducted one day’s savings before returning the customers’ money. However, sometime last month, after collecting over two weeks savings from a number of his customers, he disappeared without giving them any notice and has not been seen since then.

It was not her first time of saving with Mr Matthew, she said. She had been his customer for six months and had some amount of trust in him.

“I have been doing ‘ajo’ with Mr Matthew since I got this shop in January. When I started, I was saving N500 every day. Then later I increased it to N1,000, and then to N2,000. I have been seeing him every weekday for the past six months, until he disappeared last month with a lot of people’s money.”

Even after rumors of his disappearance spread, Mrs Akachi said she still believed that he would show up but had recently given up hope. She said she was introduced to him by a friend who has been his customer for more than two years. The friend, a certain Beatrice Nnaji who sold food stuff and drinks, had a shop two blocks away from hers. Mrs Nnaji recounted a sorry tale. “Because of Mr Matthew, a lot of people are now fighting with me. I introduced him to more than 10 people and he ran away with all our money. They have reported me to my pastor and my husband. Some of them even wanted to take me to the police because they thought I was working with him. He has just spoilt my name.”

No trace.

The only insurance Mr Matthew’s customers had was the fact that he was well known in the area and had most likely been introduced by a loyal customer. However, it proved useless when the only thing most people knew about him upon his disappearance was that he used to ride a bicycle, wore a black cap always and wrote the details of his customer’s savings in a big, hardcover note book.

His Somolu address which was printed on the small booklet he gave to his customers was a dead end as it revealed a recently vacated one room apartment which the landlord had already put up for rent. His phone number was expectedly switched off. One of Mr Matthew’s customers, Ugochi, confirmed that he changed the savings booklet in April, a move which she and most other people did not count as suspicious.

“That Somolu address is different from the one he was using before. He changed the books we were using in April and brought new ones. It was after he ran away that I remembered that the address on the former book was in Palmgrove, and I can’t remember that one.”

It’s a risky affair

Lanre Sofowora, a member of a taxi drivers’ cooperative group in Somolu says that cooperatives are more credible for such daily savings. “People should learn to form co-operatives,” he said. “This way, their money is safer and they can even get loans for their business. The age of doing daily ‘ajo’ with an unknown person is over. This is not the first time I’m hearing about this sort of thing and I’m surprised people still patronise them.”

Nike Bankole, a marketer with a bank says that people should save their money in banks rather than with people who aren’t trustworthy.

“There are banks everywhere now - in markets, in commercial areas. People don’t need to do ‘ajo’ anymore. It is not safe to trust one person with your money like that.” But Mrs Akachi said that her reason for patronising Mr Matthew’s services is not because of an ignorance of banks.

“It’s not that I don’t have a bank account. I do. But when someone comes like that every day to collect money from you, it makes you save more. This ‘ajo’ has really helped me before. I just don’t know why Mr Matthew disappointed us.”

Speaking anonymously, a police officer at Somolu Police Station, where the case was reported admitted that he had heard about the incident but that investigations were hampered by the fact that those reporting the case had no photograph of Mr Matthew and very little information about him.