Two people died after a man attacked a Lekki cinema

Two people have reportedly died following a brawl at the Filmhouse Cinemas IMAX in Lekki, Lagos State involving a yet to be identified man and security guards at the cinema premises.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command has commenced investigations into the incident, as the man is believed to be under the influence of drugs.

The suspect reportedly insisted on entering the cinema located in Lekki Phase 1 on Friday evening, but was resisted by two security guards, whose identities are also yet to be identified, and the man then attacked them.

An eyewitness who did not want to be named said, “We were watching Odyssey when the incident happened. He was armed with a machete and raised the alarm outside the cinema. At first I was scared because I thought armed robbers were robbing someone outside. I thought the man wanted to break in, but the security guard wouldn’t let him, and the incident turned into a fight. He attacked the security guard.

“Then people intervened and detained the man. I didn’t witness what happened after because I left the place while people were fighting with the man. I didn’t want any trouble with the police. I later heard that two people were dead. It was shocking,” said a source.

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

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

“A man came to the place and stabbed two security guards. One in the chest and one in the back. It was crazy. I had to use my car to take them to the hospital and unfortunately, one of the security guards died.

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

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

“Two people are confirmed dead,” Abimbola said, adding that the suspect allegedly stabbed one of the security officers to death and injured another security officer.

He further revealed that the suspect was later mobbed and died in the process, and noted that the identity of the deceased and the circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated.

Based on the PPRO’s statement, the suspect was incapacitated and was also suspected of being under the influence of illegal drugs at the time of the incident.

Abimbola also told reporters that the cinema’s Head of Security had been detained as part of the investigation, according to the newspaper.

He added that authorities were working to obtain and review CCTV footage from the spot to identify other people who may have been involved in the incident.