Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi
Pandemonium broke out on Tuesday after gunmen believed to be members of rival cult groups fired gunshots during the annual masqueraders festival held in the Orile Iganmu area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt on Sunday that at least three people were killed during the incident.
The festival is a traditional cultural event associated with a tall masquerader called Igunnuko.
It was gathered that the masquerader, which customarily appears on Tuesdays during the festival, had just emerged when youths began firing gunshots behind it. What is known to be a common display of bravado associated with the procession, however, turned violent when a suspected cult leader and his boys allegedly aimed their guns directly at their rivals instead of shooting into the air.
A resident in the community who identified himself simply as Toyosi told our correspondent on Sunday that three individuals were shot while an unspecified number of other participants were injured.
He said, “They were supposed to be firing shots behind the masquerader as it moved, but the shooting changed when some boys and their rivals sighted each other. That was when one of the suspected cultists and his boys started aiming at their rivals. Some people were also injured in the process.” Punch
