Like a swarm of locusts leaving destruction and desolation in their wake, the invasion of some Lagos riverside communities by suspected Niger Delta militants has all but stalled the local economy of those areas. Walking through some parts of Isawo and Igbo-Olomu, still feels like walking through a ‘no man’s land’ with shops shut, houses deserted and streets inhabited by nothing but domestic animals.

Aside the immediate impact on livelihood and the fear forcing people to flee these parts of Lagos where many residents were slaughtered and shot by the militants about a month ago,Saturday PUNCHlearnt that the attack had virtually grounded hotels in that part of Ikorodu and other areas such as Igando and Iba in Lagos. “Only a madman will come here and lodge in any hotel at a time like this. People are running away and you want to come and sleep here?” an okada rider, who transported one of our correspondents around the adjoining communities said. His fear echoed the general atmosphere of fear which pervades the communities.

Nothing in the façade of the first guest house our correspondent visited, Country Inn, could have suggested that it was even open for business at all. Its main gate was locked with a large padlock that seemed to scream ‘keep off!’ But a small metal door beside the gate allowed any curious eyes to see that the door to the reception was open. When our correspondent approached the attendant, Marcus Opawale, who sat in the reception, he told our correspondent that he could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who had visited the guest house with the intention of lodging in the last one month.

For the owners of multimillion naira businesses like this, business stopped the day militants invaded Igbo-Olomu and Ishawo communities on June 23, 2016 to slaughter, shot and rape residents. Residents fled in droves from the communities, after the attacks left streets littered with corpses. When one of our correspondents visited these communities, it was apparent many of the residents have no intention of returning anytime soon as most of the shops there still remained shut more than one month after.

Opawale, who spoke with our correspondent at Court Inn, Igbo-Olomu, said the guest house would likely remain open unless situation in the area deteriorates. “But who knows when business will improve for us?” he said. For others, staying open is not even an option in the face of the tremendous risk in the environment in which they operate When our correspondent got to Money Mac Hotel, the hotel’s doors were firmly under lock and key. An undisturbed bush around the entrance of the hotel leaves no one in doubt that it had been shut for a while.

Again, it was the same situation at Vista Hotel, at Igbo-Olomu, which has also closed down business for lack of patronage since the oil militants invaded the community. One hotel which pleaded not to be mentioned in Ishawo said it remained open even though very few lodgers had come there in the last one month. It was running its relaxation spot though. The manager of the hotel, told one of our correspondent that now, people had started staying away from the relaxation spot within the premises of the hotel, where people come to relax and drink every evening. He said, “Let’s just say in the last one month, we cannot really say we have made sales because what we made in the last two weeks is not even up to what we make in one day when this place was peaceful.

“Now we have decided to watch if things improve for the next one week. If it does not, we will have to shut down for now. There is no point opening the hotel every day when we are not getting customers.” Hotels are the biggest businesses in these desolate communities, making them a major part of the local economy of this part of Ikorodu, Lagos. The problem of loss of revenue and lack of customers resonated in at least eight hotels one of our correspondents visited within Ishawo and Igbo-Olomu, with all of them either on the verge of closing up shop or already shut down. Their stories tell of the huge economic toll the attack by the suspected oil militants has taken on the communities. Other smaller businesses are almost no longer operating whenSaturday Punchvisited the communities.

In Igando, while the hotels in the area have not been deeply affected, some hospitals and healthcare centres in the area where the militants struck have had to shut down operations to avoid casualties. Specifically, one in Pacific Estate had to quickly discharge its patients and shut down. One of our correspondents visited the hospital on Thursday. One of the residents who fled the community after the attack, came back to meet his house burgled. He said he was relocating to Ota, in Ogun State.

http://punchng.com/militants-attackshotels-shut-lagos-residents-flee-ogun/

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