Police arrest 127 suspected traffic robbers in three Months

Joy Joseph, Lagos

No fewer than 127 suspected traffic robbers terrorizing road users in Lagos have been arrested by operatives of the State Police Command.

According to the Commissioner of Police (CP), Hakeem Odumosu, the arrest was made in the last three months.

Odumosu who reassured Lagosians that robbery in traffic will soon fizzle out and become history in the state said the Command has deployed its human and material resources to tackle the menace headlong.

The Commissioner of Police, while giving the assurance on Thursday at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja, confirmed that the arrests were made in various locations within Lagos State from March 2021 to date.

He noted that the command has been fighting robbery in traffic relentlessly, even before the recent donation of crime-fighting equipment and communication gadgets to the command by the Lagos State Government.

“The fight against the menace will be intensified and more effective with the new equipment from the Lagos State Government.

“I must also say that robbery in traffic has drastically reduced based on the available empirical figure of the isolated cases of robbery in traffic which is not unconnected to the command’s renewed anti-crime strategies being emplaced,” he said.

Similarly, the Commissioner of Police has ordered that the combat training, musketry, and range practice for Police personnel in the command should be continuous as the command also commenced the training of the police operatives attached to the newly formed Anti Traffic Robbery Squad to tackle the menace of robbery in traffic in Lagos State.

CP Odumosu strongly attributed successes recorded in the fight against crimes and criminality in the state to training and re-training of police officers and men and constructive collaboration with the public and other security agencies in the state.

In the same vein, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, again nabbed two notorious suspected robbers along Ikorodu Road, Lagos on June 15.

According to a statement by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the two suspects are Tunde Ramoni, 21, and Adepoju Samuel, 34.

Tunde Ramoni, who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State, was arrested at Ojota, while Adepoju Samuel who hails Ogbomosho, Oyo State, was caught in the act while robbing a motorist with unregistered motorcycle (Okada) around Tipper area, Ketu, Lagos State.

Adejobi said: “During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Tunde Ramoni was once arrested with a gang of ‘Pick Pocketers’ in 2019 and was convicted to six months imprisonment.

“The Lagos State Commissioner of Police has directed that the two suspects be transferred to the Command’s Special Squad, Ikeja, for proper investigation.”

Similarly, police operatives attached to Apapa Division of the Lagos State Police Command, have arrested one Ibrahim Abidun, 26, at Agbomalu Apapa, Lagos State, with two locally-made pistols.

Other items recovered from the suspect include two live cartridges, assorted charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.

“The Commissioner of Police has ordered that the suspect be transferred to the Command’s Special Squad, Ikeja, for proper investigation and possible prosecution,” the PPRO said.

While reiterating the command’s zero tolerance for crimes and social vices in Lagos State, CP Odumosu ordered the Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers and tactical Commanders to redouble their efforts in securing public space across the length and breadth of Lagos State