RRS Nabs Six Kid-Robbers In Oshodi

In what appeared to be a clampdown on criminals operating in Oshodi, prelude to the festive seasons, the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested six teenage mobile phone thieves in Oshodi.

The suspects were all apprehended the same day in Oshodi while brazenly dispossessing commuters of their belongings.

The suspects; Ganiyu Rahman Sadiq Adebayo (15); Timilehin Oluwaseun (14); Ogundare Moyinoluwa (18); Toheeb Tijani (19) and Adeleke Sodiq (17) were arrested on Friday morning in Oshodi Oke.

According to one of the suspects, Ganiyu Rahman, “we are over 50 boys. We are always in Oshodi-Oke, from morning till late night.... Some of us genuinely help people to carry their loads while a lot of us are there to snatch handbags, phones and other valuables from people....

“At times, we pretend to be helping them but our focus is their valuables. Most times, we work in groups. While the other is helping out, another person is stealing the victim’s valuables either from bag or pocket.... There are some other guys who forcibly dispossess passers-by of their belongings. These gangs operate early in the morning and late at night when their victims are helpless,” he noted.

Getting personally, Rahman disclosed that he is a product of a broken home which has seen his parents remarrying: “I have been sleeping in Oshodi Under Bridge since 2013.... I work as conductor and whenever am not, I am with my peer to rob and snatch valuables in Oshodi...

“We were three when we stole the Microsoft phone from a lady’s bag. We pretended to be helping the lady to get a bus, meanwhile, our intent was her phones. I have been committed to 13 month rehabilitation by the Lagos State Taskforce but my home is in Oshodi Under Bridge,” he stated.

His victim, Sarah Obende, an undergraduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), disclosed that “I thought I had lost the phone.... I discovered it was missing immediately I boarded a bus in Oshodi. I received a call in the evening that I should come to Alausa to collect my phone.”

Another suspect, Sadiq Adebayo, who was allegedly in company of two other boys while stealing an iPhone and a phantom Techno phone from a car, disclosed, “Osas and Janbele stole the two phones in my presence.... We have sold the two phones along with seven other phones to Tuwo in Idi Oro, Mushin. They gave me N7,000 from the proceeds."

Four of the remaining suspects, namely: Timilehin Oluwaseun, Ogundare Moyinoluwa, Toheeb Tijani and Adeleke Sodiq were all separately apprehended while stealing phones and purse from commuters in similar circumstances.

The onslaught on criminals has been stretched to various black spots in the state. Responding to the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said Police would leave no stone unturned in getting rid of criminal elements within the State, urging parents to monitor the activities of their wards and children. The suspects have been transferred to Lagos State Taskforce.

Tricycle Rider Abducts Girl, 15, in Lagos.... He Deflowered Me By Force, Victim Laments

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command have apprehended a tricycle operator, popularly called, "Keke Marwa", for allegedly abducting a 15-year old girl and turning her to a sex slave.

The suspect, Dada Azeez, 28, had abducted Ibukun (not real name) on October 5 while on errand for her aunt in Agege area before the RRS operatives rescued her on October 21, 2016, from his den in the same Agege area of the state.

The alleged abduction of the girl was disclosed by her sister, Mrs Gbemisola, who disclosed that the girl was abducted with a sum of N58,000:00 meant for  her thrift contribution.

The suspect, after weeks of lodging in several locations to evade arrest, was eventually nabbed by the operatives at his residence at 7, Oseni Street, Danjuma Cinema area, Agege, with the girl in his one room apartment.

Confessing to the crime, the suspect disclosed that he wooed the girl when she was 14 years old at her sister' shop in Agege.

"We started having secret affair about a year ago. But her sister frowned at our relationship when she got to knows.... Unknown to her, we were still seeing each other. In order to be having regular conversation with her, I bought a mobile phone for her and instructed her to hide it from her sister. So, whenever she intended coming to meet me, she would call and I will describe our meeting point for her," he claimed.

He added "then I thought if she could elope with me that would be better for us. I started working on her psyche and deceiving her with some material things.... I was able to perpetrate the crime when her sister sent her on errand on one Sunday afternoon. However, I didn't know she was with such amount of money. I just wanted to take her far away from her guardian for not supporting our relationship."

Narrating her ordeal, Ibukun noted that the suspect forcefully deflowered her, adding that, he turned her to a sex slave. According to her,"he forced himself on me the very first day I visited him at his residence. Ever since, he has been having sex with me without wearing condom.... He slept with me anywhere and even at his friends' place where he hid me for weeks. I succumbed to him because I couldn’t go back home."

She said that the suspect collected the N58,000:00 her sister gave her. "He fed me thrice a day probably from that thrift contribution money," she added. The victim, who looked pale when she was rescued, said that, she eloped with him out of ignorance.

Also arrested along with him, was one of his friends, Wasiu Agunbiade, who aided the abduction by accommodating the suspect and the teenager in his one-room apartment in Agege. He said that he only accommodated them for a night, adding that he never knew he abducted the little girl.

"If I had known the girl was abducted, I would have advised him to return her to her parents. I never believed he could commit such crime. He begged me to accommodate them for one night with her in my room," he stressed. “He left my place the following day to somewhere else. I regretted allowing them to pass the night in my place," he added.

In her reaction, the sister of the abducted girl, who was so elated upon seeing her niece, said that the family would take her to the hospital for medical check-up.

While confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of Police, SP. Dolapo Badmus, warned parents and guardians against exposing their wards and children to social vices around their environment.

The suspect, friend and the abducted girl have been transferred to the Divisional Police Station in Agege where the case was initially reported before RRS operatives took it up and rescued the girl.

RRS Busts Suspected Thieves Of Ambode’s Light-Up Cable

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, on Monday, busted a 6-man syndicate which allegedly specialized in vandalising and stealing of Light-Up cable wire, street lamps and streetlight poles installed by the Ambode-led administration to illuminate the state.

The suspects, Tunde Alaba, 29, Saheed Ismail, 27, Deji Afolorunso, 26, Sunday Obasanmi, 27, Jelili Abodunrin, 32, and Taofeek Oyedele, 28, were all apprehended at about 2:30 am, under the bridge at CMS after destroying the streetlights powering CMS under the bridge and its environs.

RRS operatives who were patrolling the area, sighted them in the act of pulling down the street lamps, cables and poles, Government installed to lighten up the area before mobilising more officers for their eventual arrest and movement to RRS Headquarters, Alausa.

The suspects, who they all owned up to the crime at the RRS Headquarters, during an interrogation, noted that they have been living under the bridge for about 4 years.

Governor Ambode has urged all Police officers to always check out Light-Up Lagos Project because of pending cases of vandalisation and theft of armoured cable powering the street lights across the state.

One of the suspects, Jelili Oyedele, who hailed from Awe in Oyo State, said that the hardship situation in the country forced him into the criminal act.

He said, “I came to Lagos about Seven years ago. When I arrived, I was a bus conductor which I did for about 2 years. I joined the other accomplices under the bridge when I had no other place to live after my landlord had evicted me out for non-payment of house rent. Before now, I was working as labourers with the road construction company around Marina. But after our project ended, I chose to steal the cable to earn a living.”

Tunde Alaba, who arrived the City of Excellence from Ede in Osun State, early 2016, revealed that he left Lagos Island where he was squatting with a friend to avoid untimely death due to incessant clashes in the area.

“I ran away for my life for fear of death. Lagos Island is not safe for me any longer because of rampant killings and clashes between rival groups in the area. I moved to the under bridge for shelter. Although, I have not been doing anything tangible since I arrived the state, but I did have my daily meals through the sales of cables and iron steels,” he added.

Another suspect, Deji Afolorunsho, said that he was once a market sweeper in Idumota. “I swept the whole market every night and they paid me N2, 500 daily. But I lack contentment which led me to this crime”, he noted.

The lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, said that the Police will not condone any criminal activity in the state. The suspects have been transferred the Lagos State Environmental Task Force for prosecution.

RRS Nabs Man Over Visa Racketeering, Collects N2m From Victims

A 28 year old man, Emu-Larry Chidebere, has been apprehended by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly involved in Obtain By Trick (OBT) with a United Arab Emirate's visa racketeering in Ajah area of Lagos State.

The suspect, who hailed from Ika North Local Government Area of Delta State, swindled one Abraham Jude and four other persons of N2,000,000.00  under the pretence of helping them to procure a Dubai Visa.

According to Abraham, one of the victims, “when I was laid off where I was working in Abuja. I had intention of moving out of the country to start a new life. Then, I met his uncle, Samuel Obed, who told me his nephew was working with one company at the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and that he could help me to secure the country’s visa…. We started to communicate via telephone, and he assured me that he could secure Dubai Visa for me at a reasonable price. He requested for N400, 000. 00, which I told him I can’t afford such huge amount of money at that particular point in time.

“Later, he called me again that his work place in Dubai was recruiting and he had already submitted my name for employment…. Afterwards, he started to persuade me by telling me the benefits that are attached to the employment. As a result of this, I began to source for the money by all means, and at the end of the day, I got the N400, 000:00 and sent to him in Dubai through his Access Bank account number: 0029521100,” he added.

Abraham noted that, the suspect, after receiving the money developed hostile attitude towards him, and eventually stopped picking his calls whenever he put calls across to him.

“After two days he got the money, he stopped picking up my calls. Even if he managed to pick the call, he will just tell me I shouldn’t bother myself anymore that my money has gone down the drain. It was at this point, I came to RRS to report the case. And the Policemen told me anytime he is in Nigeria I should let them know,” he said.

RRS operatives were on his trail for four months monitoring his movement between Nigeria and Dubai.

“After four months, I got a hint that he had arrived the country but had changed his telephone line. As fate would have it, I got his new line and handed it over to the RRS officers, they took up the surveillance from that end, which eventually led to his arrest,” he added.

In his confessional statement, he said “I can’t deny the fact that I collected the N400, 00.00 from him. I tried to secure the visa for him but all my efforts to do so were in vain. And I started to spend the money gradually till I finished it all.”

Investigators revealed that Emu-Larry has under the guise of helping four other victims from obtaining Dubai visa collected a total of N1.6 million from them, and that some of them only came forward when they learnt that he has been arrested.

While confirming the arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer of Lagos State, Superintendent of Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, said that Police will not rest on its oars in protecting rights of any individual in the country. The suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.

Please I Don’t Want To Be Imprisoned For The Eighth Time And The Third Time This Year – Suspect

In a record chasing history that is close to Guinness book of record, a 41 year-old man arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police for stealing the phone of his helper has pleaded that he should be assisted from going to prison the eighth time.

The suspect, Emmanuel Oyewunmi, from Ikale, Ondo State, was arrested by the operatives on Friday night at Ojodu-Berger Bus Stop for stealing N600 and a phone from a bus driver and a passenger.

Oyewunmi, before now, has been on the wanted list of RRS’s operatives for stealing a Samsung Galaxy S4 belonging to one Mrs. Adesewa Oni from her car.

On the said day, Oyewunmi was a park attendant outside Shoprite Shopping Mall, Ikeja, when Oni drove in to attend a ceremony at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in Alausa.

For keeping an eye on her car, Oni instead of offering Oyewunmi the N200 he requested decided to drive him to a nearby ATM to withdraw some money out of which she gave him N1000.

Unwittingly for her, she left Oyewunmi inside her car while she gets the money from the ATM. Upon returning, she handed Oyewunmi the N1,000 and she drove off.

The victim, while reliving her experience said “I have driven about five minutes away from Alausa when I felt the urge to make some calls for appointments, and I realised that my phone, Samsung Galaxy S4, was missing. Quickly, my mind raced to him and I realised my folly.

"How could I have left a total stranger in my car alone, leaving documents and valuable items in the car with him? It was just a silly thing to do for me. I traced him back to that spot but he was gone… When I was done looking for him everywhere, I was advised to report the incidence at the RRS’s Headquarters the same day,” she explained.

Oyewunmi on interrogation admitted stealing the phone of his helper while she left him in the car to get money through the ATM last week Sunday.

The suspect said “I was pushed into it by the need to get hard drugs. As soon as I got the phone, I went to Ipodo in Ikeja to get hard drug. It was the hard drug dealer that bought it from me. He bought it N8, 000:00. I spent the rest on drug. I was so pained that I forgot to shave and barb from the proceeds of the stolen phones.”

He explained further, “hard drug has spoilt my life. It was the cause of my rejection by my wife, and my father. I got hooked on drug while I was young and getting out of it has been extremely difficult for me… Some faith based non-governmental origination have assisted me through rehabilitation in the past, I have always gotten back into it. Drug has been the predominant cause of my imprisonment…. If I am imprisoned now, it would be the eigth time and third time this year.”

On his second offence, Oyewunmi admitted stealing a phone and N600 from the bus driver and a passenger but pleaded that he was under the influence of drug.

Confirming the arrest of the suspected thief, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, urged Lagosians not to expose themselves to criminals. The suspect has been transferred to the Lagos State Taskforce for prosecution.

Club Girl, Lover Withdraw N.3M From Stolen ATM

Operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command on Friday apprehended a young lady, her boyfriend and two others for stealing an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card which belonged to one Musa Alli and withdrew over N300, 000.00 from the account.

The lady, Bamigboye Imoleayo, 24, was arrested by the operatives at a club house (name withheld) in Surulere area of Lagos State over the crime before arresting three other accomplices, including her boyfriend, Adeyinka Ayodele, the same day in Itori, Ogun State.

The victim, who reported the case at the RRS's office in Alausa, said that he met the suspect at a club in Surulere last week Friday. That the lady had earlier stolen his ATM before memorizing his Personal Identification Number (PIN) during online transfer of funds into his friend's account.

"I thought I had misplaced the card not knowing that the lady had stolen it and thereafter glimpsed at the PIN for withdrawal", he noted. He said that he was shocked on Saturday afternoon when he received alerts amounting to N90, 000:00 withdrawals.

He explained, "while I was still contemplating on how to deal with the issue, I got another debit alert for buying two Infinix phones totalling N84,000:00. I was confused and shocked. I didn’t know what action to take on a Saturday evening…. On Sunday, there was another debit. I couldn’t pin the crime to the lady I met at the club. I lodged a complaint on Monday morning at my bank and I was told that the withdrawals and shopping were legitimately made by me.

“I reported the incident at the RRS's office on Monday after informing my bank. My emphasis to the police was the withdrawals and shopping totalling N300,000:00. It was unbelievable for me when I was face to face with the suspect, the lady I met at the club. And, she explained everything," he stated.

After the arrest, the lady, Bamigboye Imoleayo, owned up during interrogations that she pocketed the victims ATM card when the owner slept off during their conversation at night at the club.

"I managed to steal the card when Musa (victim) dozed off during our conversations. Initially, I had spied on and crammed his PIN when he was sending money to his colleague via mobile app…. I committed this offence because I was so desperate to re-stock my shop at Wasimi in Ogun State, and also to take care of my only daughter. I never had a rethink while committing the crime. Although, I regretted my action now," she stated.

She further narrated how she in company of her lover withdrew and expended funds from the ATM. "After I spied on his PIN during a particular banking transaction on his phone, I intended to only withdraw N20,000.00 out of his bank account and then destroy the card…. However, when I withdrew the money, and checked the account balance, I was shocked to see his balance. Afterwards, I withdrew another N70,000.00 again making N90,000.00 that day.

“Then, the following day, I called my boyfriend, who instructed me not to destroy the card, but i should come straight to Itori, Ogun State, where he resides. On getting to him, he called two of his friends, Abimbola Akintanna and Owolabi Bamidele, to use the ATM at any nearest bank."

He added that they took the card to a shopping mall in Abeokuta where they bought phones and clothes. "The following day, we went straight to Abeokuta to use the card. We thought by going this far nobody could trace us. We bought two android phones for N84,000 at a phone store.… We proceeded to a boutique where four of us bought clothes worth N126,000. I recharged my phone with another N2,500 worth of recharge card. The money spent from the account was over N300, 000.00," she revealed.

Two Android phones, 8 pairs of trousers and shirts were recovered from the suspects during a thorough search of their residents.

Confirming the arrest, the image maker of Lagos State Police Command, Superintendent of Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, urged members of public to always protect their PIN during banking transaction at any point in time. The suspect and exhibits recovered have been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, for prosecution.