Man on rampage kills two at Lagos cinema

The Lagos State Police Command has commenced investigations into the deaths of two individuals who were reportedly killed during an altercation at Filmhouse Cinemas IMAX in Lekki, Lagos State.

*Sunday PUNCH *gathered that a yet-to-be-identified man, who was believed to be under the influence of drugs, reportedly insisted on entering the cinema house located in Lekki Phase 1 on Friday evening.

The suspect was reportedly resisted by two security personnel, who are also yet to be identified, and the man subsequently attacked them.

An eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We were watching Odyssey when it happened. He was armed with a machete and was raising an alarm outside the cinema house. I was initially afraid because I thought armed robbers were robbing someone outside. I think the man wanted to barge in, but the security man didn’t allow him, and it deteriorated into a fight. He attacked the security man.

“Then people intervened and held the guy. I didn’t witness what happened afterwards because I left the place while people were fighting the guy. I didn’t want police issues. I later heard that two people were dead. It was shocking,” a source told Sunday PUNCH.

Also sharing his ordeal at the cinema, an X user, Buchi Laba (@Buchi_Laba), who said he was an eyewitness, described the incident as “one of the worst experiences” of his life.

Laba said, “I went to watch ‘Odyssey’ at IMAX Filmhouse Cinema, Lekki, yesterday (Friday). The movie started at 10pm and ended around 2am in the morning. Immediately I came out, there was a huge crowd outside with blood everywhere!

“A guy came into the place and stabbed two security men. One in the chest and the other in the back. It was crazy. I had to use my car to take them to the hospital and sadly, one of the security men died.

“We heard the guy who did the stabbing also died back at the cinema. It was one of the worst scenes I have ever seen. The last time I saw something like this was back in school. I had to stay back in my car and cry for hours!”

Earlier on Saturday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adebisi Abimbola, confirmed the incident.

“Two people have been confirmed dead,” Abimbola said, adding that the suspect allegedly stabbed one of the security guards to death and injured another security personnel.

She further disclosed that the suspect was subsequently mobbed and died in the process, noting that the identities of the deceased and the circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated.

According to the PPRO, the suspect appeared to be destitute and was also suspected to have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.

Abimbola also told Vanguard News that the Chief Security Officer of the cinema had been taken into custody as part of the investigation, according to the newspaper.

She added that authorities were working to obtain and review CCTV footage from the premises to identify any other persons who might have been involved in the incident.

When Sunday PUNCH contacted Abimbola for details on the identities of the two deceased persons and the condition of the injured security personnel, her phone was unreachable.

A text message sent to her seeking clarification on the possible motive for the attack and an update on the case had not been replied to as of the time of filing this report.