Posted by By DIPO KEHINDE and JULIANA FRANCIS on
Armed robbers in Lagos are about to face a nightmare, with the arrival of a well-equipped squad deployed by the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mike Okiro, to counter robbers' onslaught during the coming festive seasons.
Armed robbers in Lagos are about to face a nightmare, with the arrival of a well-equipped squad deployed by the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mike Okiro, to counter robbers' onslaught during the coming festive seasons.
Already, two units, comprising 64 sharp shooters each, have arrived from Yola and Kwara states, where they received special combat training. And three armoured vehicles have been stationed at the police headquarters in Lagos for their use.
Okiro will be in Lagos today to inspect the elite force and their arsenal.
The squads' arrival coincided with the killing of five suspected armed robbers and the arrest of 1,035 suspects in Lagos, Nigeria's economic nerve centre this week. Among the suspects were two criminals, who camouflaged their operations vehicle, a 504 station wagon, in police colour, with several gadgets.
There has been a tradition of rising crime wave towards the end of every year, a period known in police circle as the "ember months", comprising September, October, November, December, when most communities usually catch cold with increasing reports of armed robberies.
While parading various suspected criminals at the police headquarters in Ikeja, the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Mohammed Abubakar, confirmed the tendency for crime to rise during the "ember months," as he warned Nigerians to be extra vigilant.
According to him, the police have put everything in place to forestall criminal activities during the "ember months". He gave assurance that his men would step up raids of criminal hideouts in some parts of the metropolis.
The CP told reporters, at a press conference, how his men, at Owutu, Adeniji Adele, Ikorodu, Lion Building, Itire, Morogbo, Mushin divisions, Area "E" Festac command and the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti have dealt with criminals, including car snatchers, fraudsters, armed robbers and cable thieves.
Abubakar said that his surveillance team at Ikorodu Division intercepted the Peugeot 504 station wagon painted in police colour with the word ‘PILOT' as the registration number, along with a tinted Mitsubishi bus. The two vehicles, that were moving with siren, were loaded with 16 bags of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.
Detectives revealed that the weeds were concealed in the two fake escort vehicles to evade checks from the police.
Policemen at Lion Building Division smashed a syndicate of fraudsters which was using fake bank cheques to purchase vehicles. Two members of the gang were arrested and a Mazda saloon car was recovered from them.
Abubakar said that detectives at Panti caught some robbers who were operating on motorbikes, along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and warned that he would no longer tolerate any violation of the law that says motorcycle riders must not move about after 10p.m.
Two different gangs were also smashed by the anti-robbery squad at SCID and Mushin. The police said two suspects, John Achum and Owolabi Adeleke, who were arrested with bullet wounds, belonged to an eight-man robbery gang. Two locally made pistols, two live cartridges and 19 wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp were allegedly recovered from the suspects after a gun duel with the police.
Two other suspects, identified as Seun Ajayi and Bolaji Idowu, were said to have been killed in gun battle with the police from Mushin Division, who recovered two locally made double barrel guns and two live cartridges.
Also in police net was one Francis Kelechi, who was caught wearing Army uniform and riding an unregistered motorcycle fitted with siren.
One case, which the CP found interesting was that of a man identified as Adewale Kuku, who was arrested after collecting 120 bags of rice worth N636,000 from the seller under the guise that he was a younger brother of Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos.
"When a search was conducted at his residence, the police found forged complimentary cards of highly placed personalities in the society, which he had been using to fool his victims," said Abubakar, who gave the numbers of suspects he had charged to court, out of the 1035, as 891.
Fourteen policemen were honoured with the CP's commendation award at the press conference.