The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, on Monday, paraded no fewer than 132 suspects for alleged murder, cultism, stealing and impersonation of the Presidential Task Force, and swindling unsuspecting members of the public out of their properties in different parts of the state.
Odumosu said nine of the suspects impersonated the National Security Adviser when they hijacked two containers loaded with goods, adding that they were arrested following a report of their illegal activities.
The suspects were said to have been operating with a branded Toyota Hilux with number plate KRD 990 AP with the inscription, ‘Presidential Policing Marshals, IMAN Special Taskforce’.
The CP stated, “This deals with a case of impersonation, stealing and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, which was initially reported at the Area ’B’ Command headquarters and subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, for discreet investigation.
“On February 1, 2021, around 11am, some suspects, Chijioke Okoro, Chijioke Joseph, Gideon Ijachi, Daniel Abraham, Nsika Eket, Stanley Akparakwu, Augustine Dosu, Solomon Emeka and Benjamin Steve, were arrested for hijacking and diverting two container loads of goods and claiming that they had an instruction to confiscate them from the office of the National Security Adviser.”
In another development, Odumosu said one Chinyere Okechukwu allegedly sold a five-month-old baby to a couple, Paul and Happiness Ibebuilo, for N900,000 in the Iyana-Iba area of the state.
He said the mother of the baby, Onyechukwu Okafor, 20, reported at the Satellite Division on March 19, that her baby was forcefully taken away by one Chinyere Okechukwu, 40, and sold for N900,000 to one Happiness Ibebuilo, adding that the police swung into action and moved to the house of one Paul Ibebuilo, 45, in whose custody the stolen child was recovered.
Also, one Anita Harrison was paraded for allegedly dumping the corpse of one Nofiat Idowu in a bush after knocking her down with a sport utility vehicle in the Ikeja area of the state.
“The suspect had swiftly rushed the victim to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, where she was confirmed dead. She, thereafter, dumped the corpse in the bush along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The corpse was later recovered and the suspect arrested. The suspect will soon be charged,” the CP stated.
Anita said that she dumped the corpse in the bush on the advice of her business partner, adding that she had not seen her baby ever since her arrest.
One Ikechukwu Michael was also paraded for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend, Chinyere Orji, 38, to death during a fight at their residence in the Alaba Rago area of the state.
“The suspect claimed the deceased was a prostitute, hence he prevented her from going out in the night for her usual hustling. Serious marks of violence were seen on the deceased and the knife used in perpetrating the crime was recovered. The suspect will soon be charged,” Odumosu stated.
In another development, the CP said 12 armed men besieged the Flakes Ventures’ warehouse in Epe, tied the hands and legs of the security men on duty and thereafter broke into the warehouse and evacuated all the electronics in it to a truck they came with and departed to an unknown destination.
The CP also said seven suspected bus drivers had been arrested in connection with the death of an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Olusegun Obasu, around the Anthony Bridge along the Ikorodu Expressway.
He said, “On March 16, 2021, around 3.20pm, some hoodlums attacked LASMA officials while on official duty and inflicted injuries on them. Policemen were dispatched to rescue the LASTMA officials and seven of the hoodlums were arrested. Unfortunately, the severely injured official, Olusegun Obasu, who was rushed to the Gbagada General Hospital and later referred to LASUTH, gave up the ghost at the hospital.
“The suspects are Alaba Adepoju, 44; Ayodele Yusuf, 25; Yusuf Waris, 21; Oladele Adejobi, 32; Ridwan Ramonu, 25; Femi Babalola, 23; and Ayomide Oyeniyi, 28. The case is under investigation at the SCIID, Panti, Yaba, and the suspects will soon be charged.”
He added that the command’s Strike Team, in conjunction with the local vigilante groups in Ikorodu, raided some criminals’ hideouts in Ikorodu, Imota and Agbowa between Friday and Sunday, where 28 suspected cultists and armed robbers were arrested.
“In addition, on March 21, 2021, around 1.30am, the same squad stormed a forest, which has been identified as a hideout for suspected cultists/armed robbers in Ajegunle, a border town between Lagos and Ogun states. The hoodlums engaged the squad in a gun duel before three of the suspected armed robbers were arrested,” Odumosu said.