The Lagos State police have recovered the mutilated remains of a man simply identified as Christmas, which were dumped in two different locations in the state.
Punch reports that the victim's body was found in Alaka, Surulere, while his head was found at Olokodana junction in the Ebute Meta area, yesterday. According to reports, although the identities of Christmas' killers have not been known, Christmas was said to belong to a group before his gruesome death.
According to Punch, Christmas belonged to one of the two factions of hoodlums in Ebute Meta. The two factions are named Oto and Olokodana and since 2010, had engaged one another in supremacy battle, which had allegedly claimed no fewer than 20 lives.
It would be recalled that on Friday, January 9, one Waheed Yusuf (aka Skippo) said to be the leader of the Olokodana gang was killed, this obviously made Christmas who used to belong to the Olokodana gang to change his mind.
A resident in the area, Tunde Adeniyi, made it known that Christmas had abandoned the gang and was planning to leave the neighbourhood on Wednesday before he was killed in that horrible manner.He said,
"I saw him packing his luggage on Tuesday. He said he was no longer interested in the clashes, adding that most of the top men in his (Olokodana) group were dead.
"He even said the motive of the rivalry was baseless, so he would rather quit and leave the community. I was surprised when I saw his head this morning. His body was later found in Surulere by the police."
It was however a lodger, who was passing by the junction around 7am, that was said to have raised the alarm, having discovered the head in a pool of blood. He was allegedly killed in his house on Fagbayimu Street, Olokodana, Old Apapa Road, by some unknown gunmen.
An eyewitness, who gave his name simply as Kola, said men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad stormed the community on Monday to avert an imminent clash.
"SARS came here late evening on Monday and raided everywhere. They recovered guns and arrested some hoodlums, including a lady," he said.
The Lagos State Police spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, however confirmed the recovery of the head in Ebute Meta. He said he had not been briefed on the recovery of the victim's body.
"A bodiless head belonging to a yet-to-be-identified male was recovered at Olokodana junction, Ebute Meta, by policemen from the Iponri Division acting on a tip-off. "The head has been deposited at the Yaba General Hospital morgue, while investigations aimed at unravelling and apprehending the characters behind the act have been activated. "Members of the public are enjoined to avail us information that will aid diligent investigation. I have not got any information on the recovery of his body in Surulere," he said.
