A Saturday morning football game among some youths at the Ajah area of the Lekki-Epe Expressway of Lagos State turned bloody when six of the youths were killed and many others injured when clashes erupted.
According to police authorities, the clash was between three factions – the Olumegbon boys, Ajah boys and Ilaje boys who had converged to play football during the compulsory monthly sanitation exercise when an argument started.
The whole area was filled with blood as well as broken glass and sticks after the fracas, with the casualties spread evenly among the three factions with the damage already done well before the police arrived.
According to an eyewitness who refused to be named, the Ilaje boys were not playing football but got involved in the clash when Ajah boys attempted to escape through their own territory.
He said, “Ajah youths were playing football. Later Olumegbon boys arrived the place and soon an argument ensued which led to the clash. As the fighting continued, some of the Ajah boys tried to escape through Ilaje Community so the youths attempted to push them back so that they would not be embroiled in the fight.
“The Ajah youths in the process, killed two of our youths and of course a fight ensued.”
It was learnt that before the police could respond, the wounded had been rushed to the hospital, while the dead had been taken away by their respective factions.
The Olumegbon boys were said to have carried the corpses of their dead colleagues to the palace of the Olumegbon.
The incident has also been linked to a long-running battle for supremacy over the the control of motor parks in the area.
It was learnt that the factions were formed after some landowners started having disagreement over parcels of land in the area. The issue soon metamorphosed into divisions as each faction started having its area of control, including motor parks.
It was learnt that some elders and security agents had made various proposals for peace to reign in the area.
Some of the proposals were that no member of a faction should trespass on another faction’s territories.
A faction going into another faction’s motor park to collect toll, and dispute over land, had often been the causes of most of their clashes.
When the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide,was contacted, she confirmed that six youths were killed.
Braide said two youths died from each group adding that it was a supremacy battle for the control in the area.
She said the police had beefed up security of the area.
She said, “Six youths were killed in the clash which started during a football match. Two youths from Ilaje, two from Ajah and two from Olumegbon were killed. Their fight is always because of supremacy claims.”
This is the second time in six months that there has been a clash between Ajah and Ilaje youths, with the first in December 2012 when over seven people were killed and over 50 houses burnt.