Suspected secret cult gang members on Friday night hacked a yet to be identified man to death at Aiyetoro area of Ijanikin, a suburb of Lagos State, in what appeared to be a reprisal attack.
The killing is coming barely three days after a 38 year-old man was killed at Moshalashi bus stop, also in Ijanikin by suspected cultists.
Cult gang members have been waging attacks and counter-attacks on rival gang members in the area in the last three months.
The cult war has created tension in the area, forcing policemen and vigilante groups to be on constant patrol of the community.
It was gathered that the victim of last Friday’s attack was trailed to his hideout at Aiyetoro by an eight-man killer squad.
A witness said a woman among the killer squad was the one who trailed the victim via phone calls to where he had gone to hide at his friend’s place at Aiyetoro.
The witness said the assassins arrived the area around 9 pm on Friday and that only the leader of the gang had his face covered.
The witness said two of the gang members carried guns while two others had cutlasses and another had a short axe.
“The woman among them called him out from where he was seating with his friends. The gang surrounded the victim as soon as he stepped into the street.
“The one that had an axe struck him on the head. Another shot him in the face, ripping out one of the eyes. The victim fell to the ground. They fired three other shots at his head before they left,” the witness who refused to be named, said.
Lagos State Police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident.
He said when the police went to recover the corpse, they noticed that the deceased was suspected to have been hit with a stone on the head.
“The corpse was taken to the mortuary for autopsy.
“We are not sure whether it is a cult-related killing or something else.
“We are working on the modus operandi of the killing in order to make conclusions and take appropriate actions,” he said.
