Emmanuel Thomas
May 30, 2015 – Officials of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offenses have arrested a pregnant woman, a nursing mother and 44 other hoodlums for selling hard drugs and terrorizing residents of Oshodi, Lagos.
At least 34 hoodlums were also arrested in Oshodi last week for related offences. Among the 46 hoodlums arrested were seven underage boys while six of them are female.
We gathered that one of the females was pregnant while another is a nursing mother. The nursing mother is however suffering from oedema, a disease which makes legs of pregnant woman to swell and was later released on compassionate ground. Officials of the agency stormed the area between 1.00pm and 2.00pm to effect arrest of the suspects at the weekend.
One of the arrested female hoodlums, Cecilia, 23 was said to have been caught selling hard drugs with her, sister, Tracy. Chairman of the taskforce, Mr. Bayo Sulaiman said Cecilia had been arrested three consecutive times, while Tracy said she ventured into drug business because she didn’t want to become a prostitute.
Sulaiman, said the arrest was parts of plans to retain sanity in Oshodi, especially on the rail track from Ladipo Bus Stop to Cappa Bus stop, saying that the hoodlums were arrested following series of complaints received by the government over continued terror unleashed by the hoodlums on innocent pedestrians.
“There has been an incessant complaint by residents of Oshodi over disturbance by the hoodlums. The government would not allow the hoodlums to return to Oshodi it cleared some years ago.
“One of the female hoodlums has been arrested three times while some are arrested for the first time. They were all arrested in Oshodi for constituting nuisance. They terrorise innocent citizens in the area. We can’t continue remain aloof. There are complaints that these hoodlums are returning to Oshodi on the railway line. Immediately we received complain about the woman who was stabbed, we swung into action and we arrested all of them.
“There is no hiding place for criminals and we will not hesitate to clamp down on them all. They were immediately charged to court but the underage boys among them is expected to be referred to the correctional home for rehabilitation,” he said.
