There was commotion Sunday morning in Lagos Garage, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, as some soldiers invaded and injured many people, vandalising many vehicles in the subsequent mayhem that ensued.
This incident sent some residents who were heading for their different places of worship to scamper for cover, as the soldiers shot sporadically into the air, as they invaded the area.
They kicked, slapped and according to eye witnesses, they attacked some passengers with machetes, transport officials in the motor park. Even passersby were not spared, as some of them were given the beating of their lives.
One of the transport union officials in the park, Mr. Rotimi Okunowo, who witnessed the incident said it was refusal of a soldier to pay his transport fare that led to the fracas.
The soldier who was said to be in mufti was asked by the bus conductor, Ademola Dosunmu, to produce his identity but he refused.
This, he said, led to an altercation, between the two of them, and they ended up slapping each other.
The soldier was reported to have disembark from the bus, took a stroll down to a corner, tore his clothes, and made a telephone call to his colleagues, who later invaded the park in about three Hilux vans and unleashed mayhem on everyone found within and the precincts of the park.
After they left, not less that 20 vehicles were vandalised and valuables like handsets, cash and other valuables were said to have been carted away.
The soldiers were said to belong to the security team protecting pipelines in and around Ijebu Ode axis.
He said, “What happened was that one of the soldiers, who was in a mufti came to the park around 6.30am and when he got to the garage,he claimed he is a staff and will not pay.
” When asked to identified himself,he engaged one of the boys in fracas and within a jiffy,he left the scene,only to return with about 20 men with various dangerous weapons like cutlasses,guns,and broken bottles.
“They beat the boy,Ademola Dosunmu and macheted him and took him away. As that was not enough for them,they vandalised many vehicles parked in the garage and pursued many people into many streets in the town.
“The government should help us to caution these people. You need to see how they beat Ademola blue black and macheted him in many places.
“We are appealing to the government to save us from these soldiers. What we gathered was that they are those assigned to be monitoring the pipelines across the area.
“We cannot bear this again,it is too much for us. They come on daily basis to extort us and yet will come back later in the day to beat our boys up.”
Another eye witness told our correspondent that some vehicles had their tyres deflated.