Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two individuals named, Dada Owolabi and Kolawole Olawoye, for allegedly stealing from commuters stuck in a gridlock along the Ogudu Alapere area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement on Sunday that the suspects were arrested by men of the Rapid Response Squad at different locations in the area, adding that Owolabi and Olawoye had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, for further investigation.
He said, “The zeal of the command to curtail traffic robbery paid off as the RRS men on decoy operation along the Ogudu/Alapere Road, on Saturday, January 9, 2021, arrested two suspected traffic robbers.
“The suspects are Dada Owolabi, 52; and Kolawole Olawoye, 25. The suspects were arrested during different incidents around 10pm. The suspects are assisting the police to apprehend other fleeing members of their gangs.
“The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the suspects be transferred to the SCIID, Panti, Yaba, for proper investigation.”
In another development, Adejobi stated that 46 vehicles and motorcycles were impounded for various traffic offences around the Alausa Business District in the Ikeja area of the state.
He stated that the vehicles and motorcycles were impounded for offences ranging from plying prohibited routes, covering and possessing fake number plates, driving unregistered vehicles and unauthorised use of siren or revolving light.
Adejobi added that drivers and riders of the impounded vehicles and motorcycles were prosecuted and fined accordingly.
The PPRO said, “The Lagos State Police Command directed its operatives to go after unregistered vehicles, vehicles with covered numbers plates, fake number plates and unauthorised use of siren in the state as the operatives of the RRS, on Friday, January 8, 2021, impounded three vehicles for covering their number plates and 43 motorcycles for plying prohibited routes in the Alausa Business District, Ikeja.
“The CP had warned vehicle owners against these acts of illegality towards the end of 2020 as a result of the intelligence gathered on the planned usage of these categories of vehicles and motorcycles for committing crimes in the state and beyond.
“The CP, while reaffirming his zero tolerance for traffic offences, ordered the Commander of the RRS, CSP Yinka Egbeyemi, to intensify efforts in impounding any vehicle/bike found wanting in this regard.”
Adejobi added that the CP ordered that the seized vehicles and motorcycles be transferred to the Lagos State Task Force on the Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit.
