Three arrested for posing as passengers, robbing others

Damilare Oguntoyinbo

Three men have been arrested for posing as passengers in order to rob other passengers in a commercial bus at Surulere, Lagos State.

The police explained that the suspects, Ezekiel Andrew (29) Sikiru Tajudeen (20) and Ibrahim Kazeem (30), used to take advantage of individuals who were in a hurry to get to their place of work in the morning.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Edgal Imohimi, said that on October 30, information was received that a robbery gang was sighted along Surulere area of Lagos in a Volkswagen bus (Danfo), painted Lagos commercial colour.

Imohimi said: “It was based on the information that operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) were drafted to locate and arrest the suspects. The presence of the operatives emboldened some bus passenger who had been held hostage and they raised the alarm. The victims’ cry for help attracted the operatives and the robbers were given a hot chase. In the process, their operational Volkswagen vehicle with registration number APP 416XX SMK 637SR was intercepted, while three of the robbers were arrested and the entire passengers rescued.”

The CP further said: “During interrogation, the robbers confess that they robbed unsuspecting passengers daily. On the average, they admitted that they used to rob as many as 3000 any they go out. The names of the  as much as three hundred thousand any day they go out on this catch in the air operation the names of the suspect are Ezekiel Andrew (29) Sikiru Tajudeen (20) Ibrahim Kazeem (30) all the suspect will definitely be charge to court. Why I’m particularly happy about the arrest of these three suspects is because we have been receiving increase cases of robberies otherwise known as ‘Catch in the Air, which was usually carried out at the early hours of the morning. These suspects target passengers looking for commercial vehicles, to board and go to office. They operate around Surulere, Ogba axis. It is clear that with this arrest, this sort of crime will stop.”