Daylight robbers back on Lagos streets with vengeance
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Daylight armed robbers are back on Lagos streets, threatening and stealing from residents with impunity, more than eight years after Babatunde Fashola chased them out with robust security when he was Governor of Nigeria’s richest state.
Residents lament frequent raids in some areas such as Lawani Street, off Ishaga Road, Surulere, where men armed to the teeth stole cash and properties on the night of July 18.
Others said robbery cases have extended to roads even during daytime.
“They robbed the [Surulere] area that week and the week after it,” a resident, Biodun, told The PUNCH.
A resident of the Abule Egba area, who gave his name simply as Juwon for fear of reprisal, recounted how hoodlums wielding knives robbed him of his phone and emptied his account the same day.
“I was returning from the Afrikan Shrine where I went to attend Seun Kuti’s show last week. But in the morning when we were returning, I alighted from a tricycle when some boys in the area accosted me. They took my Tecno phone. They both had knives,” Juwon said.
“It was around 7am. Before I got to the bank that day, I discovered that N27,000 that was in my account had gone.”
Some residents of the Akowonjo-Egbeda area narrated how robbers invaded their houses in the early hours of July 13 and made away with cash and properties.
A woman who identified herself simply as Mama Sarumi, a trader along Benesther Junction, confirmed the thieves arrived around 2am and fired gunshots indiscriminately.
“They came with one LT Volkswagen bus that had no number plate and when they came down, they started to shoot in the air. I lost my phone to them,” she said.
“They also robbed some of the people like me who sell here in the middle of the night and they collected phones and money from them.
“They were not even afraid of the police. They were not in a hurry. They just divided themselves into groups and were ‘obtaining’ people.
“Many people ran into Oke, Ajani Akingbogun and Alhaji Idowu Streets. I don’t think the police can match them because they were not afraid at all.”
In June, a man who gave his name simply as Omotayo, told The PUNCH how hoodlums attacked him in the Mile 12 area around 3pm and stole his money and phone.
“That day,” Omotayo recounted, “I was going to buy a reading lamp. I stopped at the Mile 12 market. Some boys said I should come but I ignored their summon and told them not to call me again.
“After some time, one of them entered the shop with a broken bottle and ordered me to come out of the place. He said he would destroy the things in the shop if I didn’t come outside.
“The owner of the shop told me to leave when the guy kept threatening and shouting that he would destroy things.”
He said was stabbed multiple times, and “they took my phone and other things and left me. I managed to see someone who helped me to call my mother whose number I could recall.”
Omotayo was later taken to Helaal Specialist Hospital in the area.
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Reactions on Twitter
Some Twitter users have also expressed concern over the rising cases of robbery, as articulated below:
@Sassy_Ij
“Robberies are skyrocketing on the mainland in Lagos and I fear it’s only going to get worse with the state of the economy. Even house robberies.”
@iam_Godwin2
“Good morning Lagos people, please be careful out there, public buses are now in the game of robbery with street boys. Be very careful at night in Lagos please.”
@Toria_Ahkeens
“Seems highway robberies are back in full force in Lagos. You all that move at night should be extra careful please.”
@lollypeezle
“There is nothing anybody can tell me. I am buying pepper spray and a pocket knife because of the robberies on Lagos roads.”
Police stress importance of reporting incidents
State Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin urged residents to report robbery incidents at the police station to enable the police strategise better.
“Our statistics do not reflect an increase in robberies to even talk of daytime. But if it’s true that there are robberies, that means people just decided to keep them to themselves.
“These kinds of cases underscore the importance of reporting,” he said.
“Even if you feel like you won’t get your stolen things back, at least, report so that at the end of the month, we can get statistics to know which particular areas these are happening and at what particular time.
“We encourage people to report incidents to help us improve on our anti-crime strategy.”
