A teenager identified as Chike, who reportedly travelled from Delta State to visit a friend in Lagos, was shot dead by suspected cultists in the Ikotun area.
The victim had gone with his friend to withdraw money from a Point-of-Sale operator when they were confronted by a group of youths. An eyewitness, Abiodun, said on Thursday that the attackers shot the teenager at close range before escaping from the scene.
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“He was returning from a PoS shop where he had gone to withdraw money with his friend when a group of boys approached them. They spoke briefly, and suddenly one of them opened fire on him,” he said. “The attackers fled immediately, leaving him in a pool of blood.”
Abiodun added that the victim’s friend was spared during the attack, which caused panic among residents. Meanwhile, an anti-cultism advocacy platform, in a post on Monday, suggested that the killing might be cult-related, claiming the victim had attempted to surrender his valuables to the attackers.
According to the platform, the deceased, also known as “Ejanla,” resided in Asaba, Delta State, and had travelled to Ikotun to visit a friend. “He had just withdrawn money from a POS outlet with his friend’s brother when they were surrounded by some men. Sources said the attackers shouted ‘Haba-Krier’ before and after shooting him.
“It was reported that he offered them his gold and the cash he had just withdrawn, but they still shot him and fled,” the post read. Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to her phone were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
The incident has heightened concerns over recurring cult-related violence in parts of Lagos, particularly in suburban communities, despite ongoing security operations.
