A deserter police sergeant who got redeployed to another base from Lagos state but did not report at his new posting has been arrested by the state command for robbery and abduction.
Similarly, twenty-nine other suspected criminals, including cultists, traffic robbers, armed robbers and impersonators were also within the last one week were also arrested by the police in Lagos.
On Thursday, all the suspects were paraded at the state police command headquarters by the Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the command, Benjamin Hundeyin.
Explaining the details of the suspects’ offences, Hundeyin said that 11 of the suspects were traffic robbers, while 17 out of the total number paraded were cultists and two were armed robbers. He said that the remaining two offenders were impersonators.
The police PRO disclosed that the deserter policeman was accused of belonging to a gang, which uses police uniforms to kidnap some young men, driving expensive vehicles and tagging them as Yahoo Boys to extort or rob their victims at gunpoint.
SP Hundeyin said that the deserter officer that they were arrested at Oshodi area while trying to arrest a woman for an alleged traffic offence acting as Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ( LASTMA ) officials.
The police sergeant and two others are currently being interrogated at the State Command Headquarters in many abduction and robbery incidents.
The gang reportedly drove around Lagos in a Toyota Highlander SUV and posed as policemen on a routine patrol and pick unsuspecting drivers, accusing them of committing different offences .
Members of the gang were reportedly arrested after they allegedly arrested a female driver and threatened to take her to the office of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) in Oshodi, where they claimed that her vehicle would be impounded and auctioned.
It was during the negotiation on how much the woman would pay the detectives, who had been on the trail of syndicate stormed the scene and apprehended two of the suspects, while two others took to their heels.
Hundeyin said that, ” The syndicate could threaten to take their victims to any security formation. It could be the EFCC, LATSMA, Police or any paramilitary organization, pending the offence they alleged that their unsuspecting victims committed.”
According to the police spokesperson, the cult members were arrested in Badagry, Isolo and Ikorodu and added that three of the notorious cultists terrorising Ikorodu, led by a cultist, popularly known as ’70’ had been arrested.
The police image maker said, “We advise parents, school managements, religious organisations ,and community leaders to step up in the talks to their children to channel their energies towards better things and not cultism.
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