2,792 suspects arrested for various offences in Lagos

Two thousand seven hundred and ninety-two suspects have been arrested by the Police in Lagos, for various offences ranging from murder, robbery, rape and cultism between January and mid-march, 2021.

Cultism recorded the highest arrest, with 343 suspected members of different confraternities, while armed robbery ranked second with the arrest of 234 suspects.

Ninety-one cases of murder and an additional 91 for rape/defilement were recorded during the period under review. Also, 127 gender-based cases were recorded.

Thirty-one vehicles were stolen from different parts of Lagos between January and mid-March 2021, while 232 vehicles, 184 motorcycles and three tricycles were recovered.

Also, 103 fatal incidents were recorded, 75 robberies foiled, 1,592 hoodlums hideouts raided and 235 arms and 265 ammunitions recovered. In addition, 532 persons were arrested over traffic offences, 2,953 motorcyclists seized and 82 vehicles contravened for driving against traffic.

Reeling out the command’s achievements during the period under review, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Hakeem Odumosu, disclosed that an additional 508 vehicles were impounded for violating the 12 midnight to 4 am curfew imposed by the Federal Government, as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Odumosu further disclosed that 22 clubs/bars were raided during which 999 persons were arrested for Covid-19 offences. He stated that 3,258 cases were charged to court, out of which 1,107 of them were convicted and fined.

Parading the latest suspects among which were 105 cultists, at the Command’s headquarters, Ikeja, yesterday, Odumosu, disclosed that the suspected cultists would be the first test of the new law against cultism in the state.

He expressed surprise at the alarming spate of cult-related crimes in the state, revealing that primary school pupils and those in a secondary school, as well as artisans and landlords, were also members of different confraternities.

Among those paraded, yesterday were nine suspects who allegedly connived with some hoodlums at the Computer Village, Ikeja to accuse some policemen of stealing phones, harassed them and posted the video on social media.

Frowning at the action of the suspects, Odumosu clarified that the policemen were innocent. He said, “ They were there legally to carry out an investigation, only to be labelled thieves and paraded on the street as one. I must commend the policemen for their level of composure because they had every reason to use their firearms but restrained themselves, even when they were armed”.

But when accosted, the suspects denied having a hand in the case.