A 79-year-old woman was one of those who jubilated after Sunday Terror, described as the most wanted gangster armed robber in Lagos State was killed. The old woman, Mrs. Hafsat Majaro, thinks that the notorious gangster wouldn’t have died but for her curses.
According to her, she cursed Sunday Terror on Sunday and he died on Monday; less than 24 hours after she placed a death curse on him.
She said it wasn’t her intention to curse him with death, but did so because he was threatening to kill her, unmindful of her age. Majaro said without an ounce of remorse, “Every resident in Ebute-Metta had been living infear, throughout the reign of Sunday Terror.”
She added: “I was sleeping on Sunday afternoon when someone rushed to tell me that Sunday was beating my grandson Qudus. I struggled to the scene. When I got there, I pleaded with him to release my grandson. Instead of heeding my pleas, he threatened to kill me. I cursed him there and then; I cursed him that he would be the person to be killed soon.
He died the next day.” The woman continued her narration: “On that fateful day before I ran to go and beg him, I had sent my son ahead to go and beg him. I got there and saw his boys still beating my grandson. I was angry. I went there to join in begging. Unfortunately, Sunday and his gang didn’t respect me.
They still continued with the torture. I saw blood all over the body of my grandson. “When I couldn’t bear the sight of my grandson’s suffering anymore, I knelt down and started begging them to spare my grandson’s life. Instead of taking pity, Sunday told his boys to remove my head tie. The action annoyed me. I started raining curses on him.
As I speak with you now, there is peace in Ebute-Meta. Even his boys who were terrorizing traders and plank sellers had disappeared from our community. We can now sleep with our two eyes close. I can’t imagine why someone would call himself ‘Terror.’”
The death of Sunday elicited jubilation at Ebute-Meta and its environs. Police said that Sunday and his gang members were linked to several armed robbery incidents, murder and rape in the area.
The Divisional Police Officer, in charge of Denton Police Station led a team of Antirobbery and vigilante men to the area. The suspect, who was in the company of his gang members, Okiki, Adigun, Sunday Arigbanla and Gani sighted the policemen and allegedly opened fire. The police replied, shooting four of them. While others escaped with gunshot wounds through the lagoon, Terror was arrested. He was taken to the police station. Some residents were said to have gone personally to police station, to commend the police.
He allegedly died of gunshot wounds. Another resident, Mr. Dare Popoola recalled how Sunday raped his wife while she was returning from an errand in the neighbourhood. Popoola added: “Many young girls in the community were victims of Sunday. He threatened girls who refused to do his bidding.
He succeeded in his reign of terror because he walked and worked in group.” Chief Musibau Jinadu, Baale of Okobaba, said: “Sunday made life impossible for a lot of people. Many residents were scared of him and his gang members. They threatened to kill me on several occasions. They had beaten me on several occasions. As I speak with you, my son, who was shot by this gang is still in a critical condition at Ogbobi Hospital, Yaba.”
Majaro called on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni to deploy operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to the community to patrol the areas and saved residents from other gang members who escaped. She said: “There’s no doubt they would still return to this community, to carry out reprisal attack.”
Sunday was said to have held residents of Ebute-Metta hostage by terrorizing them. His death signaled the crumbling of his empire. Residents had often wondered who Sunday really was?
Where on earth did he come from before embarking on his reign of terror? Mr. John Ajani, a mechanic, said that the dreaded Sunday was his apprentice at Odunfa Street. He said that when he heard about Sunday’s life of crime, he was shocked. Ajani said: “Sunday was brought to my workshop by his uncle when he was about 10-year-old in 1998.
His uncle brought him to learn mechanic. He was a cheerful boy and always willing to go on errands. Back then in the workshop, we had many apprentices and different sections. He was loved by everyone in the Mechanic Village. In 2002 when it was time for him to graduate, Sunday was nowhere to be found. I made frantic efforts to locate the uncle who brought him. I couldn’t find the uncle either. There was no mobile phone back then to call his uncle.
“It was in 2013 I later set eyes on him in the neighbourhood. But before then, I had been hearing about his atrocities. I met him one day and he prostrated in greeting.
I left him without saying anything. But whenever they mentioned his name in the area, I pretended as if I didn’t know him.” Mrs. Awele Usman, another resident, whose family experienced a dose of Sunday’s terror, said her son Wasiu was sitting outside their home one day when Sunday and his gang members pounced on him.
They said Wasiu refused to stand at the sight of them. To them, Wasiu was disrespectful. She added: “Before my son could utter a word, one of them picked a plank and slammed it on his head. I was somewhere when someone called me. Before I got to the scene, Sunday and his boys had left, leaving my son in a pool of blood. I found him writhing in pain.”
Usman further revealed that since the incident, she had been bitter with Sunday and his partners. She added: “When I heard about his death, I was happy. When he was alive, nobody dared him in the whole community. Now, we’re enjoying ourselves. Nobody is troubling us.”
One of the local vigilante members, Abimbola Mustapha, said that on January 15, 2016, after he arrested an armed robber in the community, Sunday punished his wife.
Mustapha recalled: “When Sunday knew I was the one who arrested his gang member, he went to my house. He abducted my wife and asked her to kneel in the sun for an hour.
He ordered her to be chanting; that she was serving punishment meant for me. Some of us in Ebute-Metta didn’t know who Sunday was.
Even his parents were not known in the community. We don’t know where he came from. Most of us are born in this community and we know ourselves.
What we gathered was that Sunday and his gang members were chased away from Ilaje Bariga and ran to our area.” Damilare Ajayi, Secretary of the vigilante group in Ebute-Metta, said he and his members took it upon themselves to start guarding the community after they noticed that Sunday and gang were terrorizing residents.
