Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
July 23, 2015 – Not less than 132 hoodlums suspected to be responsible for mayhem across the state have been arrested by the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences.
Fifty-nine of those arrested have been arraigned in the Special Offence Court sitting in Alausa while 23 under aged miscreants have been referred to correctional homes for rehabilitation.
Out of the 132, hoodlums, 33 were arrested in Agege, Oshodi, Pen Cinema, Oko-Oba, Bariga and other parts of the metropolis while 14 were nabbed in Oshodi area with Indian hemps. Twenty were earlier arrested in Oshodi.
Addressing journalists on the development, chairman of the task force, Mr Akeem Adedeji said the agency would not fold its arms and allow criminals to over run Lagos.
According to him, the state Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to protection of lives and properties in order to attract more investors and make life easy for the residents.
He said that some of the arrested criminals would be screened before they are charged to court, saying ” it is better to allow criminals to go scort free than to punish innocent.”
He added that the 23 under aged boys would be referred to the juvenile homes for rehabilitation, adding that most of the ‘young miscreants’ are between ages 12 and 15 and from broken homes.
” The unfortunate part of the story is that these kids all have tattoos conspicuous on their body. They either have it on their arms on their forehead. Many of them have theirs on their chest. While most of them have distinctive feature to show their superiority in the parks or their enclaves.
“Our investigations so far revealed that they all belong to secret cult called ‘Awon Boys’ where they operate in order of ranks and superiority. This is glaring in the tattoo on their body. I wonder where our society is heading to with the growing number of these young miscreants,” he added.
He added that the hoodlums are suspected to have been terrorising residents.
Adedeji urged Lagosians not relent in giving tips on the activities of criminals in the state and their hideouts, assuring that the state taskforce is ready to sanitise the state of criminals and environmental nuisance.
