Fifteen suspected thugs have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command along with three police officers, a Federal Road Safety Corps official and a Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), for extorting truck drivers and other motorists.
The police spokesman in the state command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the arrest, said that it followed reports of how the truck drivers and other motorists were being extorted by thugs and some recalcitrant law enforcement officers.
The report, Hundeyin said, made the Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, to set up an enforcement team with the mandate of raiding spots that had been identified as notorious for such nefarious activities.
“The enforcement team which commenced raids yesterday (Friday) was led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) and comprises tactical teams and provost officers from the state headquarters.
“The team was at Mile 2 area of the state — a hotbed for the brazen extortionists.
“A total of fifteen thugs were arrested in the act while three police officers, one FRSC and one LASTMA personnel were also arrested for being in cahoots with the touts.
“CP Owohunwa hereby warns that any law enforcement personnel, irrespective of agency, found complicit in these extortion racketeering would not be spared, as they will be apprehended and dealt with in accordance with the law,” the image maker stated.
He said that the police commissioner has assured Lagosians, especially motorists that the newly set-up enforcement team would sustain the raids and definitely replicate them in other parts of the state where the same issues exist until total sanity is restored.
