Operatives of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested five suspected traffic robbers in different areas of the state.
Oyeleke Abdullah (24), Olajide Dipo (17), Saheed Alayande (17), Azeez Yusuph (21), and Oyeniwa Wasiu (18) were apprehended at Victoria Island, Ojodu Berger, Oshodi, Obalende and Ilubirin.
Following complaints from residents of robbery attacks in traffic, RRS sent decoy teams to different areas, who pretended as though their vehicles broke down.
The Nation gathered that one of the suspects, Yusuph, who was arrested at Ilubirin under bridge around 4:00 a.m., fell for the trick.
A source said: “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 ambush the robbers, who would come and harass the lone occupant of the vehicle.
“The suspect showed up few minutes later trying to collect handset and money from him. That was when we arrested him.”
Confessing to the crime, Abdullahi said: “I was trying to make ends meet by snatching valuables of stranded drivers on the bridge. I sleep underneath the bridge along with my colleagues.”
Oyeleke, who claimed to be a bus driver, confessed he snatched a mobile phone from a passenger around 9:00 p.m. last Saturday.
He said: “There was traffic entering Lagos on Saturday at Berger, I decided to use that opportunity to snatch handset and other valuables from commuters. My colleagues and I do this whenever we need money.”
Alayande said: “I was arrested at Oshodi. I am a bus conductor. Whenever I am not doing that, I carry load and wares for people with my friend. It was here that I stole the phone that I was caught with before I was arrested.”
The command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said they are working to curb social miscreants, who exploit traffic situations in the metropolis to dispossess residents of their valuables.
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