Palpable fear has gripped Egan, Akesan and Igando communities in Lagos as some suspected armed robbers have sent a letter to them of an impending visit from the men of the underworld. The robbers were said to have pasted copies of the letter in front of some of the houses in the communities, notifying the residents of their coming to rob them of their valuables. It was learnt that armed robbers had attacked the three communities before, but they were repelled by the vigilantes hire by the residents.

A resident of Egan community, Mr. Kunle Adelowo, said the people were surprised when they saw the letter on Saturday. He said: “Everyone of us in the community went to bed peacefully, only to wake up the following morning to see white sheet of papers on the walls of some houses, including mine.

“To the surprise of everyone, the robbers have also gone to Akesan and Igando where they also pasted the same letter in houses there, informing them of their coming. We immediately reported to the police at Igando. “The divisional police officer of Igando assured us of adequate monitoring of the three affected communities. We are not relying on them alone; we have doubled our efforts by recruiting more vigilantes to patrol our area. “We are not taking chances. We, the landlords, also come out at night to assist the vigilantes. The majority of those who reside in Egan are not rich; we only depend on God for survival.”

A resident of Akesan, who identified herself simply as Dupe, said when the armed robbers came to the area in May, they moved from house to house. She said: “When the robbers came in May, they broke into people’s houses, stole phones and other valuables. But with this letter, I don’t know what they want from our community again. We are living from hand to mouth. “The robbers should go to places where rich men are; we are not rich they should have sympathy for us. When they came in May, any house they entered and the person did not give them what they wanted they would descend on members of the family and beat them blue and black before leaving. “This latest letter threat came as a result of the robbers not getting enough money the last time they came.

When they were escaping, they told us they are coming back and we should be prepared for their coming. They also told us to keep money for them otherwise they would kill everybody in the community.” Dupe added that the residents were all living in fear as many of them were jobless, which, according to her, explains why they decide to reside in such areas. She said: “I am appealing to the police to do more in their patrol, because our lives are in danger since the robbers have announced they are coming to rob us.”

It was also learnt that some of the residents who could not withstand the robbers’ threats have started moving out of the three communities and relocated to other areas. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Chike Oti, neither picked his calls nor responded to text message sent to him on the issue.

•Culled from New Telegraph

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