Mile 2 under-bridge: Where victims are raped, robbed

The relative sanity and peace that had existed at the Maza-maza end of Mile 2 under bridge, in Amuwo Odofin Local Govern­ment Area of Lagos State may soon fizzle out, if the army of homeless miscreants that have recently taken refuge there is not urgently checked. Gradually, people have started falling victims to the boys, who hibernate under the bridge during the day time, only to emerge at night to attack their victims and melt into the dark.  

The relative sanity and peace that had existed at the Maza-maza end of Mile 2 under bridge, in Amuwo Odofin Local Govern­ment Area of Lagos State may soon fizzle out, if the army of homeless miscreants that have recently taken refuge there is not urgently checked. Gradually, people have started falling victims to the boys, who hibernate under the bridge during the day time, only to emerge at night to attack their victims and melt into the dark.

Recall that prior to the construction of the new 10-lane road network from the Lagos Island to Okokomaiko by the state government, both Maza-maza and Mile 2 ends of the bridge were known for notori­ous activities as hoodlums flagrantly and incessantly waylaid, raped and dispos­sessed innocent citizens of their money and other valuables. In the past, they would drag their prey from on top of the bridge to under, where they would rape, rob or even kill them for ritual purposes. Sometimes, they would threaten to drown their victim in the lagoon in order to elicit compliance, if they only wanted mon­ey or sex. That time, many people who were declared missing were later found under that bridge with their vital organs sometimes missing.

The earliest time one could walk across the bridge was between 7:00am and 6:00pm; any period before or beyond that time was very risky. People who became victims of the roughnecks then, were strangers who didn’t know what was happening there. Everybody who was conversant with Mile 2 or who lived around the area knew how danger­ous the spot was.

People who knew what went on around the place avoided it like plague; they wouldn’t even walk across the bridge in broad daylight. To them, the fear of walking across the bridge was the beginning of long life. It made many people to dread Mile 2 even till today.

Modus operandi

A middle-aged man who said he was once a victim volunteered some informa­tion on their mode of operations at the bus stop. He said: “Initially, they used to hide in the shrubs around these bus-stops, only to emerge and attack their victims who may have come out early in the morning or those who returned late at night. But, when people discovered their antics and devised another means of stopping before or after the bus-stops, they changed tactics. Now, what they do is to plant one person at a distance before the bus-stop while another person stations himself some distance away from the bus-stop. Others will hide in the shrubs at the bus-stop, waiting for their prey. As soon as a potential victim alights from the vehicle, before or after the bus-stop and the bus zooms off, the person standing will attack at once and dispossess the victim of his or her bag and disappears. At this point, you won’t have the courage to pursue him; you will think of how to cross over the road to save your life first. They would disappear into the thick bush that separates Festac Town from the express way. They are so conversant with the routes in the bush so much that even if a team of policemen arrive at that moment, they will not be able to trace them. That was how they attacked me.”

Raising the alarm on the imminent danger the presence of the boys under that bridge may likely pose in no distant time, an auto mechanic at the Festac side of the bridge said urgent steps to flush them away from the place was the only solution to avert the impending danger. He said: “Although, their criminal activities around the bridge are still skeletal as most of them go out for op­eration in other places, they would soon concentrate on and around the bridge, if they are not flushed out urgently. Look at what they do there; they defecate ev­erywhere under that bridge. Some even drop theirs inside the water, thereby exposing the people who live around to dangers of air pollution. They smoke cig­arette and Indian hemp, gamble, woman­ise and drink all sorts of alcoholic drinks from morning till night. It is never a dull moment for them and their number is increasing by the day. Something urgent needs to be done. We don’t want to re­lapse to what we experienced before the construction work on that road started. We know what the place used to be. We don’t want that era to come back. Those concerned should rise up to the occasion and act promptly.”