Aone-legged suspected robber, who had been terrorising residents and passers-by at Agric bus stop along the Lagos-Badagary Expressway, met his waterloo last Thursday, when policemen from the State Anti-robbery Squad, ambushed and arrested him.
Police sources said that the suspect was just about to attack his unsuspecting female target when SARS operatives swooped on him, over-powered and arrested him.
“Though he is one-legged, the man is very strong; may be because of the assorted charms he equips himself with. We also had to seek some extra powers to be able to disarm and arrest him,” the police source said.
The source said on February 18 at about 4.30am, policemen attached to the Lagos State Police Command Special Anti-robbery Squad acted on information and arrested one Ramoni Opeyemi carrying a sharp knife.
Though he is onelegged, the man is very strong; may be because of the assorted charms he equips himself with. We also had to seek some extra powers to be able to disarm and arrest him
The suspect, in company with his accomplices, now at large, allegedly usually attacked and robbed passers-by and residents of Agric bus stop, on the Lagos/Badagry expressway, Lagos.
Findings have shown that Agric bus-stop, located between Barracks and Volkwagens bus stops along the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway, is one of the most dangerous blackspots in Lagos, at present.
It was gathered that criminal activities at the bus stop take place only on the right side of the road because it’s always lonely. The suspected criminals carry out their acts any time of the day, but they operate mostly at night and early in the morning.
Sources revealed that the suspected hoodlums buried their arms in the ground around the bus-stop and only exhumed them for operations. It was gathered that once there was a traffic gridlock around the bus-stop the suspected hoodlums usually embarked on robbing motorists.
Checks revealed that the hoodlums dug most of the potholes on that portion of the expressway to force drivers to reduce speed around the area. It was also gathered that they burrowed an opening on the wall of the Ojo Military Cantonment through which they often escaped until it was blocked on the orders of military authorities.
It was also revealed that the hoodlums sometimes threw vehicle rims or disused tyres on the expressway to force oncoming vehicles to a dangerous halt. They would immediately close in on the vehicle if the driver stopped at the spot and rob the occupants.
Findings revealed that robberies at the spot abated during joint military patrol of the area, but with the withdrawal of the soldiers from the team, the ugly trend returned and in a new dimension.
According to investigation, the gangs attack people in broad daylight. Some of the people who spoke with The Point alleged that the robbers operated on information, particularly about those in possession of huge sums of money.
A source said, “Just about three weeks ago, a man was attacked at that spot, but the man was very huge and stoutly built; so he struggled with them and escaped to this side with his bag that contained N4.5 million.
Just as people were telling the man that he was lucky to have escaped with his money, the robbers rode on their motorcycles from the Barracks bus stop and traced the man to this other side of the bus stop.
“When they got here, they shot into the air and people scampered for safety. In the process, they shot two Hausa men, but the man still resisted them as he held their long gun.
As he struggled with them, we made a distress call to the Ojo Police, who responded immediately and the hoodlums escaped without the money. But the man was shot while struggling with them.”
There was also the tale of how eight of the hoodlums rode on four motorcycles, and blocked a Southeast-bound bus that was fully loaded at the bus stop. “They searched the bus until they saw the bag they were looking for and they left with it. That was an indication that somebody somewhere told them about the bag and its content. They took people’s phones and money in the process and this happened around 9am,” another source said.
