Published on February 8, 2012 by pmnews   ·  

Officials of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit yesterday swooped on miscreants who specialise in stealing handsets, bags and other items from motorists during traffic gridlock at Charity area of Oshodi, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, and arrested 10 of them.
The miscreants have been thorns in the flesh of motorists plying the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway . They operate from Charity Bus Stop.
Many motorists have lost phones and handbags to the hoodlums during traffic jams in the evening on daily basis, a taskforce official said on condition of anonymity.
It was gathered that the miscreants operate as a team and would do anything to get people’s handsets and anyone who resists them gets hurt.
There have been several complaints to the taskforce officials by motorists and residents in the area as Charity Bus Stop has become a haven for miscreants who rob people.
Acting on a tip off, the taskforce officials stormed the area around 4.00 p.m. fully armed and with a Black Maria where the miscreants arrested were conveyed to the taskforce office at Alausa, Ikeja.
When contacted on the matter, taskforce Chairman, Supol. Bayo Sulaiman confirmed the arrest and said they would be arraigned in court today.
According to him, the taskforce had received complaints by residents and motorists in the area about the menace posed by the hoodlums.
He said they usually hide and swoop on their victims and dispossess them of their handsets, bags and even remove the side mirrors of cars.
Sulaiman warned that the government would not allow hoodlums hold motorists to ransom.
He stated that the taskforce would comb Lagos metropolis to fish out such miscreants from the streets and ensure that people’s properties were safe.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga