A 19-year-old boy, Opeyemo Ayoola, has revealed that most street fights in Lagos were staged by gangsters to rob unsuspecting residents.
Ayoola was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS Lagos state Command, alongside four other suspected gangsters in connection with some pockets of crisis between gangsters in Ijesha and Itire areas of the state.
The recent fight left several persons wounded , with one of the injured feared dead.
He disclosed during interrogation to being a member of the Star Boys gang, in Ijesha.
According to him: “I am an okada rider. yes, I am a member of Star Boy. Our gang usually fights with Itire Boys. The latest fight was caused by the Itire Boys. They smashed the windscreen of one of our members.”
“Most times, the street fight was staged to rob people. Members of both gangs hijack the opportunity to dispossess passers-by of their valuables and loot residents shops. But I have never joined them to loot or attack innocent persons. Rather, I prevented members from attacking those I know. Sometimes, I returned their stolen items.
I only fought because it gives me pleasure to fight”, he said.
Other arrested suspects were: Segun Oladokun ,Oluwasegun Ajagun ,Friday Aduadu and Jimoh Qudus.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the duo of Qudus and Ajagun were private guards at a hotel within the area. Their arrest followed a confessional statement by other suspects that they were the gang’s armourers.
On his part, Oladokun, said he was the main member of Star Boys among other suspects. According to him: “ I am the only authentic member of the Star Boys group ..Others are just using the name to foment trouble. The group was created to assist members but the younger members are responsible for the fights with Itire Boys.
The Command according to the Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, was still on the trail of other members of the group, particularly those at Itire, even as he reiterated the command’s resolve to curb excesses of any illegitimate group in the state.
