Pandemonium As Soldiers, Touts Clash In Lagos

There was pandemonium on Tuesday at the Second Rainbow area along the Oshodi/Apapa expressway in Lagos after some men suspected to be soldiers attacked some touts who inflicted injury on one of their colleagues.

There were different accounts as to how the trouble started between the soldier and the touts. A version of the account said the soldier was escorting a truck which was stopped by some touts on an extortion spree.

The soldier reportedly refused and was dragged out of the truck and gang beaten.

Another version of the account said the  soldier in murfti was in a commercial bus heading towards Cele, when some touts popularly called agbero  clustered round the vehicle, demanding for money.

He was said to have  ordered the touts to leave the vehicle. When they refused, he reportedly alighted from the bus to shove one of the touts away, only to be gang beaten by over ten touts.

One hour later, the injured soldier returned with his colleagues who descended on any tout  in sight.  They were still unleashing mayhem on the touts at 8pm.

This development comes hours before a tanker loaded with petroleum products rammed into a commercial motorcyclist at Alaba bus stop on the same expressway, in the driver’s bid to avoid being extorted by touts.

Reacting, Permanent Secretary, of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr.Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, said upon receipt of the report, the agency promptly dispatched a rescue team to the scene for the recovery operation.