RRS nabs 5 suspected traffic robbers

The move by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command against hoodlums who rob commuters during traffic congestion has yielded results with the arrest of five robbery suspects in different parts of the metropolis.

Metro gathered that the suspects were apprehended during a special raid by the RRS operatives following the directive of the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State to the Commander of Rapid Response Squad to deploy more operatives to areas such as Ojodu Berger, Lekki and Oshodi where in-traffic robbery was common.

The suspects, Abdullah1 (24); Olajide (17); Saheed (17); Azeez (21) and Oyeniwa (18) (surnames withheld) were nabbed in Victoria Island, Ojodu Berger, Oshodi, Obalende and Ilubirin areas in the state.

Metro learnt that some operatives of the RRS’s decoy team devised a method of pretending to have a faulty car under the Ilubirin Bridge around 4:23 a.m. which resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects, Azeez.

“It was very early in the morning when an undercover policeman pretended as if his vehicle broke down on the bridge while some of his colleagues hid somewhere to apprehend the robbers who would come and harass the lone occupant of the vehicle.

“The suspect showed up few minutes after and tried to forcefully collect handset and money from the policeman. That was when we arrested him”, a RRS source said.

He hinted that the operatives also got complaints from members of the public on RRS social media platforms about the activities of miscreants on road users with broken down vehicles in Ilubirin.

One of the suspects, Abdullahi, who confessed during interrogation, said: “I was trying to make ends meet by snatching valuables of stranded drivers on the bridge,” adding that he used to sleep underneath the bridge with his colleagues.

Another suspect, Saheed, who was arrested in Oshodi, disclosed that he was a bus conductor in Oshodi but used to steal phones from people whenever he was working as a load carrier. “That was how I stole the phone that I was caught with when I was arrested,” Saheed said.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police, said that the command was on high alert to curb social miscreants who exploit traffic situations in the metropolis to dispossess Lagosians of their valuables on the road.

She added that the suspects had been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba for further investigation.