…as incidence of armed robbery rises in Lagos
The National Coordinator of Odua Peoples Congress, Chief Gani Adams, has raised the alarm over alleged circulation of illegal arms in Lagos State.
Adams said that many residents of the state were in possession of various types of illegally acquired arms and ammunition in different parts of the state.
We now sleep with one eye open. Street gates and local vigilance groups must return
The OPC leader said this just as the rate of robbery attacks in the state increases. Crime statistics recently compiled by the Lagos State Police Command show that criminality rate in the state has soared.
According to Adams, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent, “We now sleep with one eye open.
In fact, the era of street gates and local vigilance groups will soon return, if not for anything, to protect our lives and that of our family members. In fact, we are living at the mercy of persons with illegal arms in Lagos.
“ Looking around, who do you trust? You would be shocked that your nextdoor neighbour is a kidnapper, a ritualist and has up to two, three different guns in his possession. These weapons can sometimes be more sophisticated than the ones possessed by the police,” he lamented.
However, checks with the police in the state indicate that from January this year, there has been an increase in armed robbery operations, with the perpetrators using motorcycles, popularly known as ‘Okada’, and speed boats, where applicable.
A source at the Federal Anti-robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Central Lagos, revealed that between February 15th and March this year, Lagos recorded six cases of bank robbery and 165 cases of Okada-associated armed robbery operations.
“We have some well over 150,000 series of fire arms in circulation,” a source said. Recall that daredevil robbers, in a commando-style operation last Wednesday, stormed two banks-Zenith and First Bank, situated at the Trade Fair Complex area in Lagos, carting away about N100 million and leaving several persons injured.
This happened just a few weeks after robbers raided the Lekki branch of GTB and carted away millions of naira. Though the police claimed three members of the Lekki armed robbery gang had been arrested, many members of the gang are still believed to be at large.
