Nigeria, April 8 -- For several days between last December and January, Dare Adeniyi was in hospital after 'Omo Oniles' attacked him in Osogbo, Osun State.

Mr Adeniyi, a bricklayer, and his colleagues were constructing of a three-bedroom apartment on December 23 when the thugs arrived.

"They asked for money but we replied that another set had come earlier and that the owner of the house was not around. They got angry and started attacking us with cutlass. I spent three weeks in the hospital nursing the injuries they inflicted on me. "

Since returning to work, Mr Adeniyi said he had had other encounters with the thugs at different sites in the state.

Criminality in Osun

Omo Oniles loosely translates as children of the landowner. They ...