Lagos robbery gangs regroup

Following police assault on ‘One million boys’ robbery gang that made life unbearable for residents of Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government, Ifelodun and Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Areas in Lagos, there are indications that the criminals have gone underground.
Investigations revealed that they hibernate in some high-profile hotels in the affected areas with their female partners and engage in Internet browsing.
Sunday Sun had reported the terrorizing activities of the gang last week and days later, the Police swooped on their suspected hideouts and arrested 130 suspects.
However, residents of the affected area still keep vigil for fear of the bad boys who some times rape women after robbing their victims.
It was gathered that each street has vigilante team that are on patrol at night.
Each house volunteers one or two persons.
It was also gathered that as a precautionary measure, some streets have placed embargo on night parties and where allowed, it must end at 11pm and the organisers must obtain permission from the residents’ associations.
Meanwhile, Mile 2 Oke has become a dangerous place for motorists from 5pm, especially when there is traffic jam.
The robbers, who are armed with dangerous weapons ranging from knives to short guns, capitalise on the gridlock to rob motorists.
Their strategy is that they pretend to be beggars and target mostly occupants of posh cars and dispossess them of their valuable items such as laptops, phones and money.
Checks revealed that the robbers have been a pain in the necks of road users for months.
A victim, Mr. Lucky Onosebhagbe, told Sunday Sun that he had been attacked several times.
According to him, ordinary passersby hardly notice the robberies because the hoodlums are usually too fast to arouse suspicion.
He said they usually demand for money, blackberry and where a victim fails, they would remove the side mirror of the vehicle and run away.
Onoseghagbe said: “Now I don’t pass there until I am very sure the traffic is free. Those boys are deadly and they rob everyday. I was a victim several times.
“If you don’t give them good phone or money and your glass is down, they will take off your side mirror, give you a punch on your face and run to the other vehicle behind you for the same operation.”
He said that he was attacked on September 6 at about 6:20 m and on Monday, September 10 at 7:43pm.
Another victim, Jonah Aihbholoria, said that he suffered same fate in the area.
It was also gathered that a man identified simply as Mr. Felix had to do thanksgiving in his church after he survived an attack in the same place.
He was said to have lost N15,000 and a blackberry phone to the criminals who robbed him at about 7.30pm at gunpoint.
Investigations by Sunday Sun revealed that the criminals operate from Otto Wharf up to Mile 2, on both sides of the expressway.
In most cases, they would merely open their shirts to victims to show their guns as hint of possible danger if they failed to cooperate.
Other motorists who spoke to our correspondent appealed to the state Commissioner of Police to save them from the ugly experiences by deploying policemen including armed detectives to the area.

… As Police arrest 26 of them at Amukoko
Twenty-six suspected robbers belonging to the dreaded ‘one million boys’ gang have been arrested by police from Area ‘B’ command in Lagos State.
The suspects, according to a police source, were arrested on Saturday morning at around 1.30a.m at Amukoko in Ifelodun Local Council Development Area.
They were said to have converged in a beer parlour in the area for more than three hours ostensibly to perfect their plan when police got a tip-off from some good Samaritans and moved in to arrest them.
In the operation, which was said to have been led personally by the Area Commander, Muhammed A, Ali (ACP), 10 cutlasses were recovered from the suspected criminals.
It was gathered that before the major operation, the police sent some detectives to the area after the tip-off and they mingled with the suspects for some minutes and discovered that they were up to a sinister action.
It was learnt that when they suspected that those strange faces in their midst could be policemen, they lowered their voices and changed their discussion but before then the detectives had already got reasonable information from them.
Later patrol teams swooped on them and arrested them.
The police source disclosed that after their arrest, the police inquired from the members of Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) and the vigilante group who were securing the area to confirm whether the suspects lived in the area but none of them could be identified as a resident.
They were later moved to Area ‘B’ where they are currently undergoing interrogation.
It was gathered that a day earlier, 160 suspects were arrested by the command in operations aimed at sweeping the ‘boys’ out of the state.
 DailyPost