Police arraign 56 for Lagos clashes

Fifty-six people were arraigned in a Lagos court on Tuesday for murder, arson and rioting in the low-income neighbourhood of Ajegunle, where at least 12 people died in communal clashes over the weekend, according to media sources. ‘The Guardian’ said that no pleas were taken from the accused who were remanded in custody. Their cases have been adjourned until 3 December, pending advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution. Another 55 accused are still at large. A media source told IRIN that police had only been able to confirm 12 deaths from the clashes that began on Saturday when members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), a militant Yoruba interest group, attacked Ijaw youths at a funeral. After the Ijaws retaliated by burning down the OPC headquarters, more Ijaws were attacked before police finally brought the area under control on Monday. An uneasy calm now reigns in Agegunle, the media source said, since an 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew declared on Monday by Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu. Tinubu met on Wednesday with local leaders of the Yoruba, Ilaje and Ijaw ethnic groups to seek ways to ensure the violence did not flare up again, the source said.