As part of efforts to rid Lagos State of all criminal elements, especially those operating at notorious blackspots across the metropolis, operatives of the Task Force during an early morning raid on Wednesday arrested another 71 miscreants around railway-line in Oshodi.
Some of those arrested, according to chairman of the agency, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, who led the enforcement team, were found to be in possession of suspected illegal substances and dangerous drugs such as Indian hemp, codeine, skunk and tramadol.
Egbeyemi, in a statement made available to newsmen by the agency’s spokesperson, Mr. Taofiq Adebayo, said the crackdown was in line with the determination of the Task Force to curtail the activities of hoodlums who rob unsuspecting members of the public.
He reiterated that all identified blackspots across the state would be continuously raided and arrested suspects would be fully prosecuted if found guilty, stressing that the present administration had zero-tolerance for all forms of crimes and criminality.
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“Lagos State is the most populous in Nigeria as well as its economic heartbeat. As such, the state government is committed to providing a conducive environment for both local and foreign investors,” the Task Force boss said.
Egbeyemi, however, disclosed that 13 of the arrested 71 suspects were released after a thorough screening by the Chairman, while the only underage male, Hamed Gilani, among them was transferred to the Lagos State Correctional Centre for proper rehabilitation.
This was just as he disclosed that the State Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, had directed that the raid must be a continuous exercise in line with the state’s policy aimed at eradicating activities of miscreants and cultists disturbing innocent residents.
Hamed, who was the only underage among those that were arrested, said in the statement, that he ran to Lagos from one of the neighbouring states after his parents separated their ways (divorced).
“I ran an errand for those bigger miscreants and was lured into smoking Indian hemp when I started sleeping among them under the bridge at Oshodi,” he said.
Another arrested miscreant, Suraju Ademola, confessed to have been sleeping along railway line under the Oshodi bridge for over 7 months.
He further confessed to being part of those criminals who attacked and robbed innocent members of the public of their valuables on Oshodi bridge both early morning and night.
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