By Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
November 08, 2015 – Lagos State Government’s crime fighting outfit, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has apprehended suspects alleged to be members of robbery syndicate terrorizing commuters and motorists around Bourdillion in Ikoyi.
The suspects are, Joseph Edem, 24, Jamilu Musa, 29 and Gambo Yunusa ,30, were arrested yesterday, November 7, 2015 where they were perfecting plans for the day ‘ s operations .
While confessing to the crime, Jamilu Musa, who hails from Jigawa state, claimed that, although he was not one of the robbers, he knows Joseph Edema as a member of the robbery syndicate operating in the area.
“I and Gambo Yunusa are innocents. We only sell second-hand goods at under bridge before government sent us away from the bridge. In the evening time, we do relax under a tree in the field .
” But every evening, this boy, pointing to Joseph Edema and his gang numbering about 15 usually converge here to meet. Some of them will even come with traveller’s bag and school bags but I don’t know the content. We will just be looking at them from a far place”, .
Gambo stressed that they were not among the notorious guys snatching handsets, bags and other valuables from motorists and passers-by in the area, adding that they were just a victim of circumstance.
According to the RRS Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Olatunji Disu, “Following the complaints from members of public of incessant in-traffic robbery attacks around the axis, our men laid an ambush on them which led to the arrest of the suspect, while others manage to escape the dragnet of the Police. When the Policemen combed the area, different weapons were recovered from their hideouts”.
The commander said that the aggressive operations to bring crime rates in the state to zero level will continue to yield positive results.
“Policemen are complementing and re-launching a massive aggression to all criminal hideouts in the state. And these operations have since yielded positive results as many in-traffic robbers had been rounded up. We will continue this onslaught until zero level of crime rates within the metropolis”, the Commander said.
Some of the weapons recovered from them included four cutlasses, axes, and iron rod.