If you are driving alone on the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway in Lagos, pray that your vehicle does not develop any fault; if it does, then care should be your watch-word.
Even unsuspecting lone drivers whose vehicles are in good condition have in recent times come under attacks by armed robbers who usually pose as though they want to assist them in moments of trouble.
Such incidents are more rampant at the popular Cele bus stop, the axis where a road reconstruction being handled by construction giant Julius Berger is causing serious traffic gridlock every evening.
It was gathered that they also operate in Ijesha, Odu-Olowu, and Mile2, Ojuelegba bus stops areas. They reportedly operate in groups of 10 and instil fear in lone drivers.
A victim, Tayo Alao, told newsmen yesterday that what the hoodlums do is to try to flag down a lone driver, alerting him of a fire in the engine compartment of his vehicle, they tell the victim that they will help push the car somewhere safe and get a mechanic to fix the problem.
According to Mr Tayo, if they succeed in tricking the driver to a stop, they attack him immediately, dispossessing him of all his valuables.
In other cases, the robbers, he said, do pretend to want to assist a driver whose vehicle breaks down in sorting out the problem by getting a mechanic who is also part of the syndicate.
It was gathered that the moment the mechanic opens the bonnet of the vehicle, they will ask the lone driver to start its ignition and while the driver is doing this, they get some things disconnected that will make the engine stop working.
“When this happens, they will tell you they can help you fix the vehicle. They will send a member of the syndicate to where they say the parts are sold and the fake parts seller who is also their cohort will come with an outrageous price. If you do not have money, they will follow you to an ATM machine to withdraw or to a place where they can snatch the vehicle from you and push you out,” he explained.
He said while all these would be happening, they would ensure that their victim does not put a call across to anybody.
“They will instil so much fear in you and make you believe there is a crisis within the area, especially that warring street urchins are snatching phones from people. If you try to move away from the vehicle, they will tell you that the vehicle would be vandalised. It is a terrible experience that is better imagined,” he added.
Another victim, who was tricked to stop somewhere before Ijesha bus stop along the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, said immediately he stopped, about five hefty men attacked him and collected all his valuables.
The victim, Jude Emmanuel, said he felt so bad because as the attack was ongoing, police patrol vehicles were passing by without stopping to know what the problem was.
Alao corroborated this, saying: “On Saturday night, last week, while these hoodlums were feasting on me at Cele bus stop, two Rapid Response Squad (RRS) patrol vehicles stopped and after harassing commercial bus drivers who were blocking the route and extorted money from them, they drove off. The second patrol vehicle even came when some street urchins and traders at the bus stop were fighting, but they did not go near to stop the fight; they just drove off.
“The police should be able to do an undercover investigation and arrest these hoodlums. The Lagos State Government should also clear Cele bus stop the way it cleared Oshodi. The place is highly notorious with criminal activities and must be checked. Today, you can stay at Oshodi bus stop even at mid-night, but you cannot try that at Cele bus stop.”
Most motorists plying the route urged the Commissioner of Police, Mr Umar Manko, to “do something fast before these hoodlums start killing victims they could not find money on.”
They also call on Julius Berger, the company handling the road reconstruction in the area to hasten the work to reduce the security challenges in that area.
One of them said: “There is a police station at Cele bus stop on your way to Oshodi. The policemen there are not doing anything to protect the lives and property of residents and motorists there. The only thing they do is to just stand by the police station and collect money from commercial bus drivers only in the afternoon. I do not understand what the RRS people are doing with all the motorcycles that the state government donated to them. Are they not supposed to be using them to patrol areas like Cele bus stop and the whole of the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway to stop these hoodlums from attacking innocent victims? Anybody can fall victim unless he has heard the story before.”
Efforts to speak with the command’s spokesperson Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), to know what the police were doing to check the troubling trend failed as she did not respond to calls and SMS from the reporter.
source: nigerianeye
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