Kudos: Police swoop on Lagos robbers, Arrested Three Kingpins

THE Police at Kirikiri, Lagos, last Thursday created a rare record for the force after it descended on hoodlums that have been terrorizing motorists along Mile 2, Otto Warf-Berger Yard axis on the ever-busy Oshodi/Apapa expressway.

In an operation that resulted into pandemonium following staccato sounds of gunshots, motorists and passers-by who were going home after the day’s hectic struggle, scampered for safety in different directions as the battle-ready policemen engaged the hoodlums in a fierce fight for supremacy.

At the end of the exchange of fire, three persons said to be leaders of the criminal gang that have been terrorizing motorists on the expressway were arrested. Rumpled wads of naira notes in different denominations which they allegedly snatched from their unsuspecting victims and assorted makes of telephone sets were recovered from the criminals.

Swift operation
The highlight of the swift operation which lasted for barely one hour was the uproarious response of members of the public after the police men succeeded in arresting some of the hoodlums.

Eye witness accounts said as soon as the policemen pounced on the criminals, the crowd that gathered went wild with jubilation, pouring encomiums on the police for, at last saving them from the constant attacks by the hoodlums. Crime Alert gathered that the jubilant crowd followed the police men to their Kirikiri station where the three suspects were detained.

The suspects

Police sources said the operation was as a result of complaints of incessant attacks by people that make use of the ever-busy highway daily. A motorist who refused to disclose his identity intimated that he had suffered several attacks on the highway especially from 7pm till 9pm while in the traffic gridlock that always take place on that particular portion of the highway.
According to him, this group of haggard-looking boys always occupied a space on the median at the highway and as soon as the traffic starts building up, they would attack every motorist at sight. They also pounce on drivers of fairly used cars popularly called ‘Tokunbo’ and extort money from them. Truck drivers are not left out as these criminals always extort various sums of money from them. They only spare those of them that are with uniformed escorts.”
Another female victim who identified herself as Madam Patience, an administrative staff of the Customs said she had been having harrowing and bitter encounters with the ‘hungry-looking boys’ that waylay motorists especially at the Otto-Wharf Axis of the highway.
They have attacked me inside my car severally and I have lost huge sums of money and costly trinkets. Their style is to besiege your car and start pounding heavily, demanding for money from the occupants. Woe betide you if your car was not wound up, they would simply brandish any of the dangerous weapons they carry with them and after that, dispossess you of all your belongings. Many people that resisted them have been shot or harmed with different weapons. Some have even been killed.”
Some journalists working with the media houses that surround the area also narrated their daily plight in the hands of these hoodlums. One of them said some of their editors have fallen victims to the terror being unleashed by these criminals.
It was also gathered that a prominent Editor in one of the newspapers narrowly missed being attacked after he brandished some of the security weapons he used to carry inside his car when they accosted him. They said they are being forced to leave their offices for their respective homes daily around midnight to avoid being attacked at the hold-up.
However, a car dealer at Berger yard, Mazi Osondu told Crime Alert that the agonizing aspect of the ugly development is that the criminals always attack motorists in the full glare of some policemen including those in Rapid Response vehicles who are stationed on top of Mile 2 bridge. “It is a well known fact that these criminals operate without caring that policemen were there and the policemen look the other way while they terrorize people brazenly.
Extortion of motorists
“Those policemen concentrate their efforts in extorting money from motorists that ply one-way only while armed robbers are allowed to freely attack and maim innocent people. There was a time we took up the issue with police authorities at Festac, they came and raided them for some days and as soon as they stopped, the hoodlums started again. We were also told that in most cases, some of them that were arrested always ended up being set free after the intervention of their military accomplices from the nearby army formation where they live.
What we think will put a final stop to this is for the police authorities to station an APC at Otto-Wharf with mobile policemen on stand-by permanently. By so doing, these bad boys would stop killing and maiming people. This prevailing ugly situation accounted for the response of the crowd after some policemen from Kirirkiri raided there last Thursday. Let us hope it will continue.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that after the suspects were thrown into a cell at Kirikiri Police station, another suspect inside the cell quickly identified one of them as the person that robbed him few weeks back at the same area. Police sources said the arrested suspects will be handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Ikeja for further investigation and prosecution while assuring that the police raid will continue.
When contacted, Lagos State Police image maker, Ngozi Braide, confirmed that some suspects were arrested but assured that she would give details later.

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