Two dredgers abducted in Lekki

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni

• Police, soldiers escort Epe farmers to wet crops, feed livestock

Suspected kidnappers have abducted two sand dredgers at Eleko Village in Ibeju Lekki Local Council of Lagos State on Tuesday. It was gathered that the gunmen who came through the Lagoon around 9:00 a.m. were shooting sporadically before they took the two dredgers away in their speedboat. 

Those abducted were the dredging company manager and a machine operator. The dredging company started operation in the community in January this year. According to sources in the Eleko community, a stray bullet from the gunmen had hit one of the workers on the arm while escaping from the marauding gunmen.

He said: “We were in our various houses when we heard gunshots. After the dust had settled, we went to the scene of the incident. Unfortunately, we found one of the workers in the pool of his blood.

“We rescued the victim and took him to a private clinic in the community for treatment and then reported the matter to Akodo Police division. It was when we got to the clinic we knew it was kidnappers who invaded the dredging site. We are calling on government and the security agencies to come to our aid.”

The source urged the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, to deploy marine policemen to the riverine areas of the state. “On that fateful day, if marine policemen were stationed on the coastal area, probably the gunmen would have been arrested,” he said.

Meanwhile, soldiers and policemen deployed to Igbodu in Epe now escort farm workers to their various farms to prevent the wave of the mass abduction in the area.

One of the farm managers who spoke on phone said they were only going to the farm to wet some of their perishable farm crops. “There are some of our crops if we do not wet them in a day, they would perish and some of our livestock would also die.

“The army and police are assisting us by giving us cover to wet our farms and feed our livestock. Some of the farm workers who escaped are in the hospital receiving treatment.”

When contacted, the Lagos State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Famous Cole, pledged to get back to newsmen.