Tension has gripped parts of Lagos Island following the killing of a resident, identified simply as Pedro, who was shot dead by suspected cultists in the Idumota area on Tuesday.
Sources within the police told PUNCH Metro that the attackers, who reportedly rode into the area on a motorcycle, carried out the attack at close range before escaping.
According to findings, the victim had moments earlier parted ways with friends and was on his way to visit his sister when he was ambushed.
A police source familiar with the case said, “Information available indicates that the victim had just left his friends and was heading to his sister’s place in the evening when two men on a motorcycle approached and opened fire on him at close range. He died instantly at the scene.”
Operatives who responded to the incident were said to have evacuated the body and deposited it at a morgue.
Preliminary investigations by the police suggest the killing may not be unconnected with ongoing cult-related hostilities in the Lagos Island axis.
Another source disclosed that rival cult groups have recently intensified attacks against one another, leading to a surge in violent clashes across the area.
“The pattern points to cult rivalry. There have been sustained reprisals between opposing groups, and this incident appears to be part of that cycle,” the source added.
Efforts to get an official reaction from the Lagos State Police Command proved abortive, as the Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, neither responded to calls nor replied to a text message sent to her as of the time of filing this report.
The latest killing comes amid growing concerns over rising cult violence in the area.
Just days earlier, three yet-to-be-identified men were reportedly hacked to death by suspected cultists in Epetedo while returning from a birthday gathering in the early hours of April 2.
The victims, alongside a fourth companion, were said to have attended a social event before they were ambushed on their way home, in what residents described as another episode in the escalating wave of cult-related bloodshed.