‘Agege boys’ is an alleged phrase that sounds negative when mentioned because of their alleged trademark (criminality). Are they that bad or overrated? Our correspondent in this article presents to you the true pictures of Agege Boy.
A glance at Agege.
Lagos state is made up of five administrative divisions, namely, Ikorodu, Ikeja, Epe, Badagry, and Lagos Island, with Ikeja being the Capital. The five divisions consist of a total of 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
Agege is a cosmopolitan area in Lagos State, with its Local Government Area in the Ikeja division of the State.
However, Agege Local Government Area is well known among the 20 LGA of the state because of noble people from the town and It rapidly grew as a major trading centre in Lagos State.
Agege is well known to people within and outside Lagos for its unique notable people like Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa a Nigerian lawyer and politician who has served as speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly since 2015 and also won his re-elect bid for the third term in 2023 just concluded election.
Small Doctor and Portable are part of the glory that projects the image of Agege beyond Lagos state through their music.Â
Agege, like other parts of Lagos state, was developed with industries and real estate. Among the notable estates in Agege are kò,Â
County Estate Pen Cinema is one of the most prestigious residential developments in Agege, Maple Wood Estate is another example of a traditional estate in a tranquil setting. Sunshine Estate, New Dairy Farm Housing Estate, and LSDPC Medium Estate, to name just a few.
‘Agege Boys’ a curse or blessing to the neighbourhood
‘Aege boys’, is an alleged phrase that got many people to fear and think negatively when mentioned because of their alleged trademark. It was gathered that the ugly occurrence in Agege is not a new issue as stakeholders of all government parastatals in the State were well-informed but yet to stop the occurrence.
However, In a conversation with Oyekachi Emerowa, a pedestrian at agege under the bridge, said “Many people assumed Agege boys are pocket-pickers, armed robbers, cultists and brutal individuals. Yes, they are right because when you hear agege boys nobody needs to warn you to keep your valuable items before you do”.
However, when asked Mr Oyekachi if he had been attacked by Agege boys, he claimed not to have had any encounter with them but “most of my relatives were attacked on different occasions and everybody knows what they are up to because it’s not a hidden fact to verify” He said.
Furthermore, a pedestrian under agege bridge who speaks under the pledge of anonymity noted that he has had a series of encounters with them and “has since then understood their tactics”.
In his words, “They (agege boys) would approach someone as a beggar, if giving them an audience and not granting their wish, it will lead to assaults and you can easily be rubbed even during the day, as no one will hamper their business”.
Intruder behind the immorality
Meanwhile, in a chat with Lateef Sekoni who claimed to be an indigene of Agege contended that Agege boys are not monsters. He insisted that it’s outsiders that usually perpetrate evil under Agege Bridge.
Lateef Sekoni (A.K.A Amulele), Chairman NURTW Kara Unit 2 and Vice Chairman NURTW Agege branch A. Stress further that Agege boys were known and respected across the Lagos state not because of criminal activities as it is currently projected, but with the fact that they will never accept injustice.
In his words “We indigene of Agege are aware of the unrest those miscreants usually cause the agege pedestrian daily and we have played our part by did vigilantay for two weeks and planted our boys in different areas to stop them during the day.”
“Our plan yielded positively as we handed over 48 Moonstar to Agege Police station. What amused us was that those guys are not Agege boys, they came from Agbado, Abattoir through oju’rin to rub people under the bridge”.
“We stopped doing the vigilantay when those miscreants threatened to come for us with guns if we didn’t mind our business. So we left the Police to do their job which we thought it’s not enough before”.
“More so, we didn’t say there are no bad eggs among us in agege, but we know them, we know their father’s house and we usually hand them over to the Police when misbehave and make sure they do not go unpunished”. Sekoni.
Sekoni however, appeals to Lagosians to avoid attributing all ugly scenarios in Agege to only ‘Agege boys’ without clear evidence, saying villains are villains and could go anywhere to unleash their evil without residing in there.
He called on stakeholders and the government to come to their aid. “don’t allow intruders to toy with Agege’s good name as it will affect our children in the future”. Sekoni concluded.
