Crocodile Caught in Lagos Posh Estate

It is rare to find wild animals roaming free in neighborhoods, so Omole estate in Lagos was recently thrown into a state of excitement when a crocodile was caught in the gated neighborhood.

The animal, which residents described as “very large”, became a spectacle at one of the gates to the estate, on Sunday, December 22, 2013. For residents not used to seeing wild animals lurking in their neighborhoods, the sight was unexpected.

The animal had earlier been caught by the estate’s security operatives around 2am on Omotunde Akinsola Street, by Today’s Car, after it strayed from a swampland at one end of the neighbourhood. Three bullets shot at the animal did not kill it.

So the initial buzz of excitement generated by the incident soon turned to apprehension for residents. Some of them described the crocodile which was over six feet long, as frightening.

A resident living by the swamp where the animal was caught, who identified herself as Ogechi, said she heard three gunshots that morning, and had thought they were meant to scare away robbers.

“Now, there is a general fear in the area caused by the incident. It’s amazing finding such a wild animal around where people are living; I think it’s very dangerous because a crocodile should not be going about in a neighbourhood,” she said.

Since the incident though, the neighbourhood has had its fair share of wild tales and gossips. Different accounts of the incident with varying sizes of the animal have been rendered from mouth to mouth in the estate that the facts have been blurred somewhere between the lines.