There was mayhem at the Capa and Mosafejo areas of Osodi, Lagos State, on Thursday as men of a joint military task force, OP MESA, unleashed terror on residents and passersby in the community.
While the rampage lasted, commercial and private vehicles were vandalised in the community up to as far as around the Osodi under bridge.
While some of the commercial drivers fled to safety, others, including one Segun, were arrested and taken away in patrol vehicles.
Information gathered indicated that the security operatives were out to avenge the death of a yet-to-be-identified airman.
Report indicated that the murdered airman, who was in mufti, was waiting for a bus on the Osodi Bridge when some hoodlums attacked and dispossessed him of his valuables.
He was said to have died from injuries inflicted on him in the attack, possibly when he tried to resist. His remains were later found on the bridge on Sunday after his colleagues made frantic efforts to locate his whereabouts.
Another account said the circumstances surrounding the death of the soldier were not clear, suggesting that he might have even been killed by a hit and run vehicle.
Residents had been apprehensive the soldiers would come to avenge his death on Monday or Tuesday, but began to relax when they did not see them.
However, on Thursday, his colleagues seeking an answer for the death of the airman stormed the area with their faces covered to arrest people transacting their businesses. A number of the commercial drivers operating in the area were reportedly whisked away.
Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said normalcy was restored to the area by evening as the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, ordered police patrol of the affected area.
