Introduction

“Ever since the sophisticated bandit a.k.a ‘Area 7’ laid siege on Lagos state (longed dubbed as the theatre of robbery attacks in the whole federation) an unprecedented waves of devastation had been set in the history of the states’ crime records.

The opening of the theatre of terror premiere by this criminal syndicate had continued to galvanize more seats of victims never before experienced. With smashing blockbuster hits such as ‘public nauseating’ and ‘bloody lawlessness’, the reign of robbery attacks is indeed turning into a tragic sell out…. And in the quest to curb this boiling scourge infecting the commercial nerve center of the nation had thrown the embattled state police commissioner and the state governor (agitated by the bad omen hanging on his re-election ambition) into a war of words.

As the menace spill over major metropolis, security authorities from different quarters trades blames, accusation and counter accusation bordering on weak resolves, kid glove approaches and ineptitude on combating crime while the neglected Lagosians and it battered residents, its visitors and their soaring premonitions begged to be rescue from the quagmire that seems to go bloodily unabated…, ”
---the crime report section
The Guardian Newspaper

“….the latest macabre episode sequencing previous gruesome onslaughts of robbery cases on public nerve unleashed yet another tale of woe today 2nd of june 2009 when among the counted victims gunned down during a bank robbery attack at exactly 2:45pm this afternoon by the same feared gun-totting gang, Area 7, to the dawning horror of Lagosians, was the wife of the state police commissioners…, ”
---breaking news of a high profile killing
Channels TV

Now that the pendulum has swung to the doorstep of the chief saddled with responsibility of clipping the wings of these daredevil robbers, Lagosian, enveloped with thick cloud of dread, stood breathlessly with so such apprehension on what will be the outcome of the unexpected loss until 7pm in the evening when their TV screens was greeted with an unstable recorded footage taken at the assaulted bank showing the horrific view of the police commissioner’s wife’s lifelessly body conspicuously among other victims sprawled in pools of blood. It was a calculated and clever opening to evoke outrage and sympathy among the shocked populace.

On the screen, a picture crawling with activities and deafened with howls of converging siren sounds, a scuffle ensues among the paramedics and security personnel until the press were shut out of visuals. The picture return to the LTV 8 news studio where the news anchorwoman quickly chip in an opening before the stage switch to the familiar face of the bereaved, stoned looking police commissioner surprisingly alongside his most persistence critic, the governor.

After the governor had finished barking vehemently into the mick vowing to mount the biggest manhunt ever, the muted commissioner inundated with the reality of the polices helplessness in face of distress calls, the cases of lack of crime-fighting equipments and ammunitions, and the damning reports of his men falling dead to robbers’ bullets, yet keen on moving heaven and earth to take his revenge. He splash his blood-shot swollen eyes full screen and with voice oddly calm, he personalized his state address with just one loud sentence to murderers of his beloved wife.


“I want your seven heads on my office tray.”
---Top headline of daily Sun Newspaper.