By Evelyn Usman
Operatives of the Rapid Respond Squad, RRS, Lagos State Police Command, have arrested three robbery suspects who rob motorists whose vehicles break down and passers-by along Otedola Bridge, Berger area, in Lagos.

The suspects are Chima Joseph, 24; Hassan Adamu, 34, and Ibietan Oluwaseyi, 41. Recovered from them were two keys said to open Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and Honda cars.

Lagos JJC-victim

The suspects, as gathered, attacked a victim identified as Idi Musa, who was visiting Lagos for the first time from Borno State, dragged him into the bush and dispossessed of his belongings.

The suspects

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the suspects, Musa said: “I alighted at Ojodu Berger and was walking to Ojota. My destination was my brother’s place in Apapa.

“As I walked towards the bridge (Otedola), I heard a voice from the nearby bush saying Aboki, zo mana (come).

“I ignored the call. Before now, I had been warned to mind my business when in Lagos. As I continued walking, two of them (pointing to Chima and Adamu) ran after me, held my trousers and dragged me inside the bush. They beat me, searched me and my luggage and took N3,000 from me.

“After collecting my money, one of them (pointing to Adamu) said he was a Lagos State Government official and that if I ever come back there, they will arrest me and send me back to my village.

“They then released me to go. As I descended the slope towards the bridge, I spotted an RRS vehicle and went to the officers to narrate what had happened to me. Three officers were drafted to comb the bush and they arrested the two who dragged me from the road into the bush.”

Vanguard gathered that RRS’s surveillance team had been on the lookout for the robbers that have been terrorizing motorists during traffic congestion in that area.

It was further learned that more than four suspects had been arrested, while two additional cases of robbery linked to the suspects had been reported to the RRS.

Confession

However, one of the suspects, Chima Joseph, from who the keys were recovered, denied using them for crminal purpose, saying he found them on the ground and was looking for where to hang it for the owner to see.

He admitted to have dragged Musa into the bush and collected N3,000 from him, adding that “my friends and I sleep in the shed in the bush beside the expressway. What we do is to assist people on the highway.”

Confirming the arrest, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, said that the suspects had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Yaba, for further investigation.

She added that the command was carrying out surveillance on black spots in the state.