Some indigenes of Osun State who were allegedly deported to their home state have accused officials of the Lagos State task force of threatening to kill them inside the forest.
It was reported that some miscreants were arrested under the Dolphin Bridge in Ikoyi and in the Marina area of the state and later dumped in the forest in Ilesha, Osun state on Saturday.
The miscreants were arrested after the state government uncovered about 86 partitioned rooms, measuring 10×10 and 12×10, being used as makeshift apartments under the Dolphin Bridge.
Narrating their ordeals in a chat with The Punch on Sunday, the victims said they escaped from the Ilesha forest where they were dumped and that they were arrested without proper investigation.
The victims said officials of the Lagos task force threatened to kill them inside the Ilesa forest if they refused to cooperate with them.
One of the victims said they were numbering about 500, including people living with disabilities and jam-packed in cramped conditions inside the chartered bus provided by the state government to the forest.
One of the victims who said he sold phone accessories at the Marina area of Lagos, Miracle Chukwu, claimed he was not allowed to speak before being pushed into the bus.
Chukwu also claimed that the officials threatened to shoot anyone who disobeyed them in the forest.
He narrated: “I was coming back from where I was selling phone accessories at the CMS area around 11 a.m., so some task force officials and police officers stopped me and forced me into their Black Maria vehicle. They beat me up and collected my bag, which contained my iPhone XR, over N20,000, and my house key.
“That night, they arrested innocent people, took me to the Lion Building, and then transferred us to Elemoro Police Station, Area J. They ordered a bus to pick us up and take us to Osun State, including people living with disabilities and a lot of traders in all kinds of businesses in Lagos.
“We were about 500 that they arrested. The bus dropped us at a forest in Ilesha, asked us to enter the bush, and they vowed to kill anyone who did not cooperate.
“We stayed in the forest for thirty minutes before we came out. We were begging people to help us until we got to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; it was the sibling of one of us who came to rescue us.”
A job seeker, Arius Awodeji, who identified himself as a Lagos resident, said they were deceived that they were heading to Ikeja to see the governor, but surprisingly found themselves in the forest.
He said: “I am still searching for a new job. I decided to stay in the Marina with my friends. On Thursday, I went to watch a football match, so I decided to rest at the Local Government council, in the front of Oando filling station. Then, I slept off with my bag on my head as I was still searching for a job. Around 2:42 am, I checked the time, and I saw three flashlights pointed at my eyes.
“We stayed up all night without being fed. Around 10:30 p.m., they brought luxury buses to pick us up and they gave us a pack of rice and a sachet of water. Around 4:30 a.m., we had already got to Osun State.
“They instructed everyone to alight and run into the bush without looking back, so we would not end up being shot. We found it hard to locate our way back because we were trekking, but I was fortunate to see someone who helped me with a lift to Ibadan.”
Another victim, Peter Ocheja, said he was arrested unjustly on his way to work, and he had no choice but to follow the directives of the task force in the Osun forest because of the fear of being harmed.
He said: “I am based in Onikan, Lagos. I was going to work in the morning and saw the task force officials and police officers in Black Maria. They asked me to enter the vehicle. I told them that I should call my family, but they refused and said it would be until I got to where I was going.
“They threatened that they would waste our lives if we did not cooperate with them. We were taken to Ilesha in Osun State. We got there around 4 a.m.. So, they asked us to alight while flogging us and instructed us to walk towards the forest. They said they would shoot anyone who dared look back.”
