Lagos arrests Lekki-Ajah hoodlums after PUNCH report

The Lagos State Rapid Response Squad has arrested more than a dozen miscreants who have been extorting and harassing motorists and commuters along the Lekki-Ajah Expressway after a report by Saturday PUNCH.

In June, Saturday PUNCH reported how residents and regular road users were consistently harassed by hoodlums who extorted motorists and attacked vehicles with big stones, sticks and other objects whenever drivers refused to part with money.

Residents lamented that, despite their letters and petitions, several sections of the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Eti-Osa Local Government Area had been turned into extortion points by these hoodlums, who forced motorists to “settle” them before being allowed to pass unhindered.

An investigation by Saturday PUNCH showed that these extortion hotspots were concentrated around Marwa Bus Stop, Gbara (off Jakande Second Gate), Ikota, Victoria Garden City, Ilaje, Abraham Adesanya and Freedom Way, which had become hubs for hoodlums and drug-fuelled activities.

When this reporter visited the overhead bridge in the Victoria Garden City axis, a group of touts was observed demanding money from motorists passing beneath the bridge.

The update on their arrest was announced by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Lagos State Governor, Gboyega Akosile, on his X account on Sunday.

Sharing a video of about 15 hoodlums arrested by officers at about 9:08pm on August 8, Akosile said an overnight operation was conducted by the RRS before the arrest.

He wrote, “The miscreants and hoodlums were specifically targeted after a careful investigation launched into their activities of harassment, extortion and acts of brigandage, which pose a lot of threat to the daily lives of the residents of the Lekki-Ajah community.

“The administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will continue to work closely with the law enforcement agencies to rid the state of miscreants, hoodlums and other societal misfits who may want to create an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness in the state.”

On his part, the state Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, in an interview with Nigeria Info FM, posted on Thursday, described the activities of street boys who extorted drivers of luxury cars along the Lekki-Epe Expressway as unacceptable.

“As we discussed, that is criminal and therefore, we will not allow it. So, we will take a lot of them off the street. A lot of people have been arrested because there are a lot of cameras on that road and people are being seen.

“Some people are in the Magistrate Court today, and they were the ones arrested over the weekend.”

Also responding to an X user who lamented the menace of street urchins harassing celebrities for money in a video documentary, the state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the state government had consistently apprehended and dislodged these street urchins from various locations across the state.

“However, the continued financial support and patronage they receive from some influencers, celebrities, and members of the public, as seen in this video, inadvertently encourage them to return to the streets and, in some cases, view it as a lucrative means of livelihood, while also breeding a sense of entitlement.

“While we fully acknowledge that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety, security, and orderliness of our streets, we must also recognise the role that individual actions play in sustaining these challenges.”

Commending the move made by the state, an Ikota resident, James Ugbede, said, “The arrest is a welcome development. The roads and streets here in Lekki down to Ajah and the corridors in my area were filled with these thugs and urchins, but they have left the place now.

“We need more of these arrests on our streets and roads in the state so that victims aren’t forced to resort to taking the law into their own hands. We are grateful for the PUNCH publication.”