Miscreants on Tuesday night robbed motorists and passengers on the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos, dispossessing them of their phones and money.
The criminals, who took advantage of the traffic jam caused by the anti-xenophobic protests at the Circle Mall, smashed vehicles’ windscreens, assaulted and robbed victims.
The Nation learnt that they started robbing people around 8pm from Salem bus stop at Lekki and moved towards Jakande Estate.
The robbers, witnesses said, capitalised on the traffic that stretched from Law School bus stop to Victoria Garden City (VGC), Ajah, caused by bonfires ignited by youths, who had stormed Shoprite in an attempt to torch it.
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Other factors such as a burning Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), belonging to a Lebanese and the commotion that followed the attack on the mall were said to have contributed to the gridlock that night.
A commuter, whose phone was snatched by the hoodlums, said it took the intervention of the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Lekki, Idris Balogun and Secretary of the motorcyclists’ union, Muritala Abdul-Kareem, to restore sanity.
He said: “They attacked my bus and took our phones and money. They were just moving from one vehicle to the other. Fortunately, someone who knew those union leaders contacted them and they sent their members to the scene.
“Three of the robbers were apprehended and handed over to the police. They retrieved the stolen items from the three of them and asked us to come to their office to identify our belongings.”
Our reporter gathered that the police were still trailing others who fled, in order to recover the items they stole.
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