Armed robbers lay siege to Lagos
Olalekan Adetayo

THIS may not be the best of times for residents of Lagos as armed robbers have literarily taken over the metropolis, unleashing terror on citizens.

In the last one week, it had been different tales of woes from most part of the state.

Mostly hit are highbrow areas such as Ajao Estate end of the International Airport Road, Ire Akari Estate in Isolo, Apapa GRA, FESTAC Town, Omole, Ogba, Ojodu, Ilupeju, Agege, Egbeda, Ogudu, Ikorodu, Yaba and Ketu among others.

The popular LagosIbadan Expressway known for the presence of the prayer camps of various religious organisations has also turned to the devil's haven as a result of the operations of men of the underworld.

While the National Chairman of the Action Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, escaped such a raid on that road on Thursday, a middleaged man (name withheld) is yet to recover from the trauma he went through during a similar encounter.

Investigations carried out by THE PUNCH showed that the mode of operations of the hoodlums is similar or the same in almost all the areas where cases of robbery were reported in recent times.

The armed bandits are either operating on motorcycles to dispossess unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables where there are traffic snarl or they gain entrance into residential building using a resident as bait.

In all these, however, victims say the hoodlums operate unhindered irrespective of the proximity of some of the crime scenes to police stations or the number of distress calls placed through to security operatives.

For instance, at about 2am on Sunday, armed bandits invaded the Ilupeju residence of a Lagos-based senior journalist who did not want his name in print.

During the operation that reportedly lasted for about one hour, valuables such as jewelry, telephone handsets, wristwatches and money were stolen from residents of the house at gunpoint.

The News Editor of a Lagos-based newspaper swallowed his own bitter dose of the men of the underworld's operation on Sunday evening shortly after he closed from work.

He arrived at his residence in the Isheri-Idimu axis of the metropolis about 11pm into the waiting hands of armed robbers who were already lurking around the premises.

Immediately the journalist's wife opened the gate of the house and he drove in, the hoodlums swooped on him, and locked him inside his car's trunk.

They reportedly drove the black Toyota Corolla car towards Iba-LASU Road before he was left off the hook after dispossessing him of his valuables, including the car, his telephone handsets and money.

"They pushed him out of the car and later gave him money enough to take him home for cooperating with them and drove the car away.

They are still searching for the car as I am talking to you now," a close associate of the traumatised journalists told our correspondent on Monday.

About four hours before that incident, an eight-man armed gang had invaded a house located on Aina Road, Ire Akari Estate, Isolo.

After dispossessing residents of one of the flats in the house of their valuable, the armed men left with a 2008 model dark grey Toyota Corolla car belonging to another resident.

A resident told our correspondent that although the car marked FX 847 EKY was later sighted when the robbers were finding their ways out of the area and the case reported at Ire Akari Police Station, policemen on duty claimed that they did not have enough weapons to confront the fleeing robbers.

"The robbers were not on speed because the owner of the car had already demobilised it with his phone. They only managed to move it with 'gear one'. But the policemen said they could not confront them.” "The irony is that we had to be moving from one police station to the other because they kept telling us that the incident did not happen under their jurisdiction. We ended up visiting three police stations: Ire Akari, Isolo and Aswani Police stations," the source added.

A female resident of Egbeda told our correspondent that she was contemplating relocating from the area because of the siege laid by robbers.

She said, "Do you know that we only have one police station: Gowon Estate Police station, in that stretch of Akowonjo-Egbeda Road? The robbers' siege is real. On Ogunlana Street alone, cars are being snatched at gunpoint daily with impunity.

Something urgent should be done by the police authorities as we approach the Christmas and New Year celebrations."

Despite these visible signs of a state under siege however, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Mr. Frank Mba, said that what was being witnessed was not a breakdown of law and order but "occasional challenges."

Mba, a superintendent of police, said such challenges became more pronounced and attract headlines when the victims were "celebrities or members of a critical sector."

He said when such "isolated cases" occurred, the authorities of the command return to the drawing board and review its strategies.

He said, "Overall, crime rate in Lagos is reducing.

However, we will look at these complaints with the view of finding out their veracity and mapping out fresh strategies to meet the challenges.

"Some of our current measures are the gradual improvement in training and logistics, improvement of intelligence capacity, increased motorised patrol, intensive collaboration with members of the public and high visibility policing."

These ugly developments are coming a few weeks after the Lagos State Government, through its Security Trust Fund, donated 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers, 1,000 AK 47 rifles, 1,000 bulletproof vests and helmets as well as ammunition to the state Rapid Response Squad to combat crime.

The command had a few days after the donation organised an exercise tagged "Show of Force" where they paraded the major roads of the metropolis showcasing the equipment.

The incidents are also coming in the wake of the introduction of joint militarypolice patrol codenamed "Operation Mesa" in the state. https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-191427.0.html#msg3035572

thank GOD my neighbourhood/area is not amongst the hot spots,however i think its really alarming the government has allowed the situation to degenerate to this extent, people should watch neighbours and report them if they have any suspicions armed robbers are normal human beings and no matter the camouflage they ll still betray one or two behaviours giving them away,
on the part of the police,they should take it serious and make it a high priority,also intelligence gathering should be at the forefront and crime prevention, police should develop informants and endear themselves to the average nigerian instead of the present way they r acting

The easiset way to stop thieves is to provide the basic necessities of life - easy.

Jobs will decent pay all over the country (not only in lagos and abuja), stable electricity and water supply nationwide, good roads, good food should not be a luxury.
I can tell you most people dont want to steal but are hungry and have been oppressed.

Our leaders (who are already wealthy anyway) are still robbing us with the pen, so why should an armed robber who is hungry care??

Make the basic necessities of livelihood readily available and affordable to all; provide jobs ALL OVER the country then watch the positive radical change in Nigeria