Gunmen Kill Couple, Child, Maid In Lagos

Gunmen, in the early hours of yesterday, stormed an apartment in a
block of flats in Unity Estate, Akowonjo area of Egbeda, killing a
man, his wife, his child and their maid.

Details of the tragic incident that sent cold shivers down the spines
of residents of the area were sketchy at press time.

Vanguard,however, reported that the gunmen suspected to be hired
assassins, stormed the building at about 2am and fired shots,
apparently to wade off intruders.

A resident of another flat in the block, who pleaded anonymity, said
there was an argument between the gunmen and owner of the flat whose
identity could not be immediately ascertained.

According to the neighbour, "the gunmen scaled through the fence of
the building and held the gateman hostage.

"They beat the gate man, tied his hands and asked him to leave the
vicinity, threatening to kill him if he alerted the Police.

"They, thereafter, made straight for the flat from where we heard
argument. We heard the owner of the apartment shouting 'no, no'. We
did not know what the argument was about. The next thing we heard were
gun shots, with the victim still shouting 'no, don't,' but the
assassins continued to fired intermittently.

Sound of the gun shots died down when it was 4 am. But nobody dared to
go to the affected flat until daylight."

It was gathered that policemen later arrived and took the corpses away.

When the Lagos State Police Command Deputy spokesman, Lelma Kolle, was
contacted, he said he was on an official assignment but promised to
get back after he would have received details from the Divisional
Police Officer under whose juridiction the incident occurred.

Robbers attack Elerinko Estate

In another development, robbers yesterday, went on the rampage in
Ijoko Otta area of Ogun State, dispossessing residents of Elerinko
Estate of cash and other valuables. Among those attacked was a man who
reportedly just returned from Ghana.

The attack, as gathered, was in confirmation of the robbers' earlier
threat to attack the area. They were said to have written the
residents two months ago, advising them to keep cash at home for them.

Although the Ogun State Police Command was said to have deplored teams
of policemen on a 24-hour patrol which was done for one month, the
robbers took residents unaware barely two weeks after the patrol team
stopped.

To this effect, the fear stricken residents have stressed the need for
the establishment of a police post in the area with a view to nipping
activities of robbers in the bud.