LAGOS JULY 16TH (URHOBOTODAY)-There was pandemonium in the vicinity of Lagos State secretariat, Alausa, Lagos as hoodlums popularly known as ‘area boys’ numbering fifty attacked and brutalized protesters who were expressing their grievance against the mass sack of bankers in the financial sector and the ban on street trading in Lagos.
A PUNCH photojournalist, Sodiq Adelakun caught in the skirmish was equally brutalized and mercilessly beaten by the hoodlums alleged to have been drafted from African Shrine owned by late Afrobeat maestro Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
The protesters made up of civil societies in conjunction with the Nigerian Labour Congress were protesting in front of NECA building in Alausa Lagos when the hoodlums stormed the area.
The protesters took to their heels as some were beaten with planks while some others were also stabbed with knives and bottles.
Sodiq Adelekun of Punch newspapers who was equally attacked by the hoodlums affirmed that the hoodlums armed with guns, bottles and sticks arrived the scene in two buses and chased after anyone they could set their eyes on.
“I ran with all my strength, but I was overtaken, beaten, punched, stabbed…. my eyes were blank while they robbed me of my camera, smartphones and wallet,” he said.
“They threatened to gun me down if I don’t cooperate in the presence of the DSS and policemen. Sadly, for 10 minutes it was just me, my blank eyes and my creator.”
Before going to press, law enforcement agents have put the situation under control.