Taiwo Jimoh
Odumosu
As the year draws to
an end, crime rates in some parts of Lagos State have begun to spiral. The most
worrisome crime trend is the return of traffic robbers.
Many residents,
however, have often argued that traffic robbers and robberies were part and
parcel of the state.
Presently in the Lagos
State metropolis, cases of traffic robberies and car snatching are on the
rise, thus causing residents to fret.
The police in the
state recently arrested suspected traffic robbers in different parts of the
state, yet these suspects keep increasing daily.
It was also gathered
that car snatchers are also now on the prowl in Lagos, but their activities are
more announced around Ketu, Alapere, Mile 12 axis as well as Oworonsoki, Agege,
Lagos Island, Badagry Expressway, Ajah, Agege and Berger. They are
also believed to be prevalent at Ogudu, Ojota-Ikorodu Road, Iyana-Ipaja
and Oshodi axis of the state.
Recently, a video of a
car snatching attempt at the Ikeja GRA surfaced online. The driver of the car
had been attacked and his windscreen smashed.
According to the
person that recorded the video, the car snatchers, operating in a mini bus
attempted to stop him, but his refusal angered them. They then hurled a big
stone at the front windscreen of his car, shattering it, but the driver managed
to escape.
A resident of Jakande
area of Ajah Lagos, Mr. John Akande, said that he had to go through weeks of
therapy to get over his trauma in the hands of suspected traffic robbers at the
Lekki area of the state.
Akande said: “I was
tired and very hungry on this particular day and the only thing on my mind was
to get home to eat. The traffic was terrible and hostile. I was suddenly jolted
by a loud noise on the car window. So many things flashed through my mind, but
I couldn’t do anything. I just obeyed and wind down my glass. I later heard
that I was not the only person those boys robbed on that particular night. They
did their job and left, without any hindrance.”
The robbers moved from
one vehicle to another, dispossessing commuters of their valuables. Akande
said that incidents of car snatching and traffic robberies were on the
rise along Admiralty Way, Chevron, Jakande, Agungi and other parts of
Ajah.
A resident of
Ahmaddiya area, who identified himself simply as Franklin, narrated his
frightening experience in the hands of suspected traffic robbers at the Agege
area of the state.
Franklin said: “I was
trying to avoid the heavy traffic and to navigate my way through another
road at the back of Agege Stadium when five boys surrounded my car. There were
four of us inside my car and we were all men. We quickly noticed the boys were
under the influence of drugs and the colour of their lips was blue and their
eyeballs were bloodshot. They kept hitting my windscreens, but I kept driving
slowly because of the snail like traffic. When they persisted, I quickly
brought out a N1000 note and handed to one of them. I noticed that elderly
people in that area, who may be their relatives and parents, were watching the
event and smiling, instead of chastising them.”
A television
presenter, Tope Mark – Odigie, also shared her experience in the hands of
traffic robbers along the Alapere Bridge. Odigie said that she was lucky to
have escaped from the guys without her car being vandalised.
A journalist, who
doesn't want his name in print, also described how robbers attacked him three
times at Railway Line, Agege area of the state while he was going home after
leaving office.
He said: “The
first time I was attacked, I was going home along the railway lines when four
boys surrounded me. They ordered that I should submit all money I had on me.
After I had given them what I had, they said it wasn’t enough. I then told them
to search me, but one of them said that if I should move, I would blame myself.
After satisfying themselves, they left. The second and third times; I was
going somewhere early in the morning and they attacked me. I reported to the
neighbourhood watch commander in the area. The commander said that because he
and his men didn’t have guns, there were limits to what they could do. The
commander said that some of these boys also threatened to attack his children
and those of his subordinates, if we ever tried to disturb their operations.”
Another victim is the
Editor of a national daily in Nigeria, who also didn’t want her mentioned.
She said: “On that
fateful day, it was late and we were going home from office. On getting to the
traffic light by First Gate Junction, along Ogunnusi Road, Ojodu-Berger area, it
happened! We were trapped inside a tight traffic along with my colleague, and
it rained heavily that day. Hence it was a messy and clumsy atmosphere in Lagos
that fateful day. While in that traffic, chatting with my colleague, a fierce
and hungry looking guy came knocking rudely and impatiently on the driver’s
side window of our car. We turned sharply to the left side to see an averagely
tall, fair complexioned man flashing the butt of a gun at us, demanding for
money to enable him feed. ‘Give me money to feed, else, I
waste you two in this traffic,’ he demanded. Initially, we thought
we could overlook him and drive off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so as the traffic
wouldn’t move. We looked around us and saw that truly, he wasn’t alone. There
were some guys lined up on both sides of the road. Some other boys at the front
were doing same to other motorists ahead of us. We decided to part with N1,
000, but the man wasn’t satisfied as he demanded for more money, saying that he
wasn’t alone. He said that they were 10 in number. Seeing our reluctance to
give him more, he started cursing, and made to break the mirror. We immediately
added N500, but again, he harshly demanded for more. This time, he was
already trying to break the side mirror, again, we added N1000. He still wasn’t
satisfied; we showed him our purses and offered him a phone. He replied that he
had several phones, which were yet to be sold; he wasn’t interested in phones.
Eventually, he became satisfied with the money we gave him, and asked that we
should look for him the following day to give him more money. We responded,
‘yes sir.’ Luckily, the traffic had cleared, so, we were able to zoom off.”
The Lagos State
Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, speaking recently at the 2021 Annual
Award and Lecture of Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), admitted
that the police received unhealthy reports about traffic robbery in some major
parts of the state. He revealed that the police in the state had stepped
up its game as parts of efforts to stem the tide.
He said: “Operational
order has been issued to the officers and men of the State command, while
special squads had also been deployed to areas where such incident had become
rampant lately.”
Odumosu, however, added:
“As we approach the Yuletide period, I want to assure all law-abiding residents
of Lagos State that we have doubled our efforts and have rolled out the
operational order. Traffic robberies wanted to return with what happened
in Ogudu-Ojota recently, but we have taken care of that, and people should be
rest assured that Lagos State is safe.”
The President Oodua
People’s Congress (OPC New Era) Alhaji Sadam Arogundade, said the solution to
traffic robbery was for the police to partner groups like OPC, Vigilante and
other local security agencies in the state.
Arogundade said:
“There was a time when traffic robbery was high at Oworonsoki end of the Third
Mainland Bridge. We took the responsibility upon ourselves and flushed out the
hoodlums, and arrested some of them. We have handed them over to the police.
The truth is that the police cannot be everywhere at the same time and they
can’t do the work alone. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police should direct
all area commanders to partner with local police and should not see us as
a rival. We’re working for the same purpose and we have no other country
than Nigeria. The police should see us as partners in progress. If they call us
to work with them, we’re going to work with them and clear the streets of the
hoodlums.”
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