[News] Personal Experience With The One Million Boys Gang. It Was a Real Fearful Time.

One million boys have been terrorizing Lagos residents for some years now. I first heard about them in 2016/2017 when they held Ikorodu then Badagry/Mowo axis under siege.

These boys would rob, maim, rape and inflict injuries on their victims.

They move about wielding matchets and axes. Whether you open your door to them in compliance or not, they would hack the door down with the axes in their hands.

In 2018 they wrote to my community that they were coming and we should prepare for them. The landlords went into meetings at once. They came up with decisions to fortify, increase the number and strengten the local vigilante groups that comprised mostly Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC members.

While men slept, the boys came like they said but they couldn’t gain access into the community. They were blocked by the vigilante groups. There was noise and chaos that night but they weren’t allowed to get in.

They quarrelled and cursed. But they were denied access. I don’t remember the full details of all that happened but I remember the vigilante groups asked for more hands. And it took male members of the community joining the vigilante to work shifts every night till we heard of one million boys no more.

It is however very painful to hear that those unemployed youths have raised their heads again at this time everyone is not comfortable and looking up to God to torment the already tormented residents of Lagos and Ogun States.

I am using this opportunity to encourage Lagos and Ogun residents to mobilize men in their various communities to take three hour shifts at nighttime to keep watch.

During the day, everyone needs to be at alert. It is now known that they have begun to operate during the day.

I was on phone with a young girl residing at Iju in the early hours of today and was worried that she wasn’t sleeping, then she told me she was afraid of going to sleep because the community had been under attack previously. Though some males were outside keeping watch, she still couldn’t sleep.

I know that torture. I was usually awake most times then hoping my siblings wouldn’t cry out in case ‘kasala’ bursts and I’m trying to hide everyone of us.

In all of these I wish all of us safety. May God be the Head Watchman over us.

We will rise above this storm, hopefully by the grace of God.