Clifford Orji enclave still criminals’ haven in Oshodi

The Clifford Orji hideout, a flyover that connects Apakun to Oshodi from 7/8 bus stop on the airport Road, Lagos, has become a crime haven as criminals now use the route at night to carry out their evil acts. Often times, if the victim is a female, the hoodlums would rape her right inside the garden.

Clifford Orji, the infamous cannibal who supposedly ate human beings for a living while posing as a madman, was in 1998 discovered at the spot before he was nabbed by the police with stacks of cash found in his den.

Residents in the axis told The Guardian that the area has recorded a lot of criminal activities because the place is usually dark and the garden under the flyover serves as an enclave for the criminals to carry out their acts.

Joseph Ibor, who was a victim, at about 9:00p.m. last week said he was trekking to 7/ 8 on Airport Road when two armed robbers attacked him by the flyover. According to him, he was enjoying his walk, when he suddenly came in contact with a man in his early 30s holding a sharp knife.

“As I was about to make a U-turn and escape for my life, I encountered another hoodlum, so I was right in their middle. At first, I taught they were ritualists as I remembered vividly that this was where Clifford Orji carried out his deadly acts many years ago.

“Like a movie, I don’t know where I got the courage to try to escape from them, but these guys were persistent in catching me even when I fell and a car almost hit me. Luckily for me, I just threw the handset I was holding at them, this was my saving grace as they were distracted by that. As they scrambled to pick the phone I threw at them, I picked up myself and fled. That was how I escaped.

“To my amazement, the people I narrated my ordeal to weren’t surprised. It is as if that spot is known for such evil act. There was no police patrol or vehicle in the area and the place was as dark as you can think. There is need for the government to put at least security light in that axis,” he said.

Also, Folashade (surname withheld), in her early 30s, was a victim of rape at Oshodi. She was coming from a salon when two gunmen attacked her while waiting to board a bus to Airport Road that fateful evening.

“Some hoodlums with gun accosted me and were hitting me. I quickly surrendered my bag to them but they weren’t ready to let me go as one of them said ‘come here, we are going to rape you. I struggled with them as they led me to a garden under the flyover.”

In the same vein, a journalist was also a victim of these daredevil robbers. She had waited for a public transport from Oshodi to Airport Road to no avail when she decided to trek.

According to her, she had been warned not to take the route that leads to the flyover but because she saw some group of people at a close distance ahead of her, she decided to follow them. Unfortunately, a bus stopped to pick those people and she was left alone on the lonely route.

“That was how I was the only one left on the road. Before I knew what was happening, a guy appeared from nowhere before me with a gun. As I turned there was another one behind me. I knew there was danger. I was robbed and was let go.”