The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Rapid Response Squad (RRS)

  • Driver, 43, accused of injuring two RRS officers

    A 43 driver, Muri Lasisi, was on Tuesday arraigned at an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court for allegedly driving recklessly and injuring two Rapid Response Squad (RRS) officers

    He pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge of reckless driving,  driving without a driver’s licence and causing injury.

    Prosecuting Inspector Raphel Boney said Lasisi committed the offences on July 12, on Eko Bridge, Lagos Island.

    He alleged that Lasisi recklessly drove an LT bus with number-plate XS 348 LSR without regard to other road users.

    “Lasisi drove against traffic and in a bid to avoid oncoming vehicles; he swerved the vehicle and hit two RRS officers, Sergean Michael Edem and Oluwatayo Adedeji, causing them severe injuries.”

    Magistrate B.A. Ajiferuke granted the defendant N200, 000 bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

    He adjourned till August 20.

    A driver, Seun Adelakun, on Tuesday appeared at a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly driving recklessly and causing the death of Shofe Gbenato.

    Read Also: RRS nabs suspected fraudster

    Adelakun, 47, faced three-count charge of manslaughter, reckless driving and driving in a wrong way.

    Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Clement Okuoimose said the defendant committed the offence on July 12 at Gethrome on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

    He alleged that Adelakun drove a Mitsubishi car with number-plate FU 774 LSR in a dangerous manner, causing the death of Gbenato, 37.

    “The defendant also caused injury to a 28-year-old woman, Comfort Yussuph,” the prosecutor added.

    Okuoimose said the defendant drove without a valid driver’s licence on a public highway in a direction prohibited by law.

    Chief Magistrate Lazarus Hotepo granted the defendant N100, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    He said that one of the sureties must be a traditional ruler or a Level 12 civil servants with means of identification.

    He adjourned till October 2.

  • Three injured in building collapse

    Three persons suspected to be artisans on Thursday sustained injuries after a building under construction collapsed in Lagos.

    The incident occurred at Kayode Aluko Olokun Close, Shangisha.

    It was gathered that the storey-building was at plastering stage when it caved in around 3pm while it rained.

    The three men, who were trapped underneath the rubble, were said to have been among those plastering the house at the time of the incident.

    Read Also: How to prevent building collapse

    The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) responded to the distress and extricated the victims from the debris.

    While two of them were said to have sustained serious injuries, the third victim’s condition was said to be stable.

  • Police arrest Uber driver ‘s alleged killers, recovers car

    Operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command have arrested two suspected robbers who allegedly killed an Uber driver and stole his car.

    The Lagos Police spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, said that the suspects were arrested in Aboki Estate, Lekki, Lagos.

    According to a statement by Oti, the suspects were arrested while removing the parts of the stolen Hyundai Elantra car with Reg. No. EPE 676 EC for sale to a scrap metal dealer.

    He said the arrest was carried out following a directive from the new Lagos police boss, CP Zubairu Mu’azu, that the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, should fish out the culprits.

    Oti said investigations by the police revealed that an ex–convict and bus conductor, in company of three others now at large, had conspired to hijack an Uber car and sell it off.

    ”On the said day, the quartet at around 11 p.m. waved down the deceased, Sunday Obasi, in Lekki. They told him they were going to Ikate and he charged them N1,000.

    ”Before getting to their destination, the suspects told the driver that they wanted to ease themselves. It was at this point they descended on the driver.

    ”They killed him and pushed him off the car into the road before driving the car to Beach Road, Lekki, where they hid it for two days while looking for buyer and swapped the number plate of the car with a Volkswagen Passat car (FKJ 708 CA) close by,” he said.

    Oti stated that investigations were continuing on the case, stressing that the command would leave no stone unturned towards ensuring that the fleeing suspect are made to face justice.

    The recovered vandalised Uber car was currently parked at the RRS headquarters, Alausa, while the late driver’s corpse was deposited at a public mortuary. (NAN)

  • Police arrest Inspector found with beer bottle 

    Lagos Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal Wednesday ordered the arrest of an Inspector, Emmanuel Egba accused of drinking on duty.

    The police boss also ordered an investigation to ascertain the veracity of the claim.

    Read Also:Police arrest 11 for armed robbery, kidnapping in Niger

    A picture of Inspector Egba holding a bottle of beer was captured and made public, prompting the Commissioner to order his arrest.

    According to spokesman Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), the Inspector said he recovered the bottle from a driver.

    Oti said: “The attention of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Edgal Imohimi has been drawn to a publication in which a police Inspector was caught in camera holding a bottle of beer.

    “The officer in question has been identified and arrested. He is Inspector Emmanuel Egba, a police motorcycle rider attached to Area ‘M’ Command, Idimu and not Rapid Response Squad (RRS) as erroneously reported.

    “When the Inspector was questioned by senior officers, he denied the allegation; stating that he recovered the beer bottle with liquid contents from a driver who was drinking right inside his car in traffic.

    “He feared that the driver might get himself intoxicated thereby endangering his life and that of other road users.

    “The case is however being investigated at the Command Provost Section and if his claim is found to be false, appropriate disciplinary action will be meted out to him after an Orderly Room Trial.”

  • Police arrest suspected operator of fake WAEC centre

    The Police Command in Lagos State has arrested a 48-year-old man suspected to be the operator of a fake West Africa Examination Council ( WAEC ) examination centre in Igbogbo, Ikorodu.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Edgal Imohimi, said the suspects were arrested on April 25 following a complaint by a senior member of staff of WAEC office, Ogba.

    “The complaint was that there exist a fake WAEC centre at El-Supreme Private School located at No. 3, Oseni Adekogbe Street, Igbogbo Ikorodu.

    “Operatives of the Command attached to Area ‘G’ Ogba, were mobilised to the above address where one Pastor Adeniyi Joshua of El-Supreme Church was arrested.

    “WAEC question papers and answer sheets suspected to be forged were recovered from the suspect.” Imohimi said.

    Similarly, four suspects who specialise in solving examination questions and circulating the answers through various websites and Whatsapp numbers were also paraded by the police.

    Read Also: Police debunk rumours of planned attack on mosques in Benue

    Imohimi said the Rapid Response Squad ( RRS ) decoy team traced and arrested the suspects from Edo, Osun and Ondo State.

    “Some other suspects had been traced to Ghana. We are working with Interpol to make sure they are arrested as soon as possible.

    “We are also working with the examination bodies involved to make sure we get to the bottom of this.

    “This is something of national interest and a great embarrassment. We will ensure that this does not repeat itself.

    “Parents, guardians and tutors must also guide their wards not to engage in exam malpractices,’’ Imohimi said.

    NAN

  • RRS forces robbers to abandon bus, gun, flee into bush

    The operatives of Rapid Response Squad ( RRS ) of the Lagos State Police Command  on Thursday forced four armed robbers to abandon a hijacked danfo commercial bus, a gun and six passengers whom they had held hostage while in transit.

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Imohimi Edgal disclosed this today at the Command’s headquarter while parading some suspected criminals the police arrested.

    The four robbers who boarded the bus heading to LASU – Iba route from Iyana Ipaja hijacked the bus from the driver immediately one of the passengers alighted at Diamond Estate, Isheri, Lagos.

    According to the driver of the bus, Sherrif Dada, “at around 11:00 p.m on Thursday, after returning from a chartered trip to Sango, my conductor and I went straight to our usual route at Egbeda to make some more money before the closing for the day. We saw lots of passengers at Egbeda Bus Stop who were heading to Igando.

    We picked the passengers and we dropped the first passenger at Diamond Estate Bus Stop. Just after leaving the Bus Stop, one of the passengers, four guys in their 20s brought out a gun and told me to stop”.

    “Just after pinning the gun to my head, the other robbers began to ransack the  passengers particularly, a lady suspected to be carrying a handbag and her Infinix Note 4 android phone. The robbers began to scuffle with the lady to dispossess her of her belonging but the lady refused to surrender her bag to the gun wielding bandits.

    It wasn’t quite long my conductor escaped that they threw me down on motion after sighting an RRS patrol vehicle chasing them. They felt I was not fast enough”, he stated.

    According to the conductor, Hakeem Hassan, “I was also  held down at gun point after attempting to jump down from the moving bus to stop me from raising alarm.

    Unfortunately for them for them I managed to escape from the bus after the driver slowed down. I ran for my dear life. They threatened to shoot me but I defied all their threat to stop me from calling attention of those around the area”.

    He stated further, “immediately I manage to jump from the bus, I ran backward screaming for help and also hearing the robber telling me to stop that he was going to shoot me but I continued running until I ran into a filling station.

    It wasn’t quite long I had been screaming for help when I saw an RRS patrol vehicle speeding towards me. I guessed other road users who saw me had told them”.

    “The chase by the police vehicle unsettled the four robbers. They instantly stopped collecting our valuables and were thinking of how to escape. As soon as we left Igando General Hospital, they drove the danfo into a bush and escaped leaving behind their only gun and mobile phone they took from one of the passengers”, one of the commuters stated.

    Recovered from the bus were a locally made gun and an Android mobile phone, which they collected from one of the passengers.

    Both the danfo bus and the mobile phone were handed over to their owners at the RRS Headquaters in Alausa.

    Commenting on the development, the Police PRO, SP Chike Oti said “Lagos is not a safe zone for any criminal to operate, if they risk it, we will get them”.

  • Breaking: Operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service shoot man to death in Lagos

    Breaking: Operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service shoot man to death in Lagos

    Trigger-happy operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service  ( NCS ) on Wednesday morning killed a man at Oko-Oba, Lagos.

    The operatives were said to have opened fire after they sighted a bus suspected to be carrying smuggled rice.

    It was gathered that a young man, alleged to be a smuggler was shot on the head.

    According to witnesses, the Customs officers riddled vehicles around the seen with bullets as they fled.

    “There would have been serious riot this morning at Abule Egba but for the intervention of policemen from the Rapid Response Squad ( RRS ).

    Read also: SARS personnel to undergo mental test 

    “Those Customs people have started again this year. They shot a young man on the head this morning. They were just shooting like drunkards. Blood

    is everywhere,” said a source.

     

  • Badoo: Police arrest 87 suspects, declare 20 wanted

    Badoo: Police arrest 87 suspects, declare 20 wanted

    In continuation of its clamp down on suspected Badoo members, Lagos State Police Command, in collaboration with other security agencies and local security volunteers have arrested 87 suspected Badoo members while declaring 20 other people wanted in connection with activities of the group in Ikorodu.

    The 87 suspected Badoo members were arrested in an all-night operation on their hideouts in Owutu and Odongunyan in Ikorodu.

    Those declared wanted for cult related killings include: Moshood (a.k.a Mosho); Alfa (a.k.a King of Boys); Papa; Fela; Alakoto and  Chukwudi.

    The police also declared 14 others wanted for kidnapping in Ikorodu. They include: Agbara; O/C; Femi (a.k.a FM); Pencil, Odidan; Jaru; Allen; Bush; Happiness; Fagbo; Junior; Nuru and Jamiu.

    The police called on the suspects to come out of their hideouts and report themselves to the nearest police station.

    The Command equally advised members of the public with useful information on the suspects who are all residents of Ikorodu to assist the police.

    The raid was an extensive operation on the two areas – Odongunyan and Owutu. The operation was necessitated by more intelligence on the membership of the dreaded cult group and their mode of operations.

    Before the operations, the police in conjunction with members of the Department of State Security Service, representatives of the Nigerian Army, Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps and Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) met with herbalists and Babalawos in Ikorodu and its suburbs on the need to collaborate with the police to wipe out the cult group in Ikorodu.

    Representing the Lagos State Police Commissioner, CP Fatai Owoseni at the meeting, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Imohimi Edgal warned the herbalists and Babalawo and local vigilantes to eschew jungle justice, stressing that the Command would not tolerate further excesses from the security stakeholders.

    Edgal solicited for more information that would help the police to speedily end the activities of the group in the area.

    The Police Commissioners later met with Obas and traditional rulers in Ikorodu.

    Also involved in the exercise were the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), ACP Olatunji Disu; Acting Area Commander, Ikorodu and all DPOs in Ikorodu among other senior police officers.

     

  • LASEMA averts major disaster in Magboro

    LASEMA averts major disaster in Magboro

    What could have turned out to a major disaster in Magboro, Ogun State along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was on Thursday averted by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) with salvaging of a 50,000 litres of truck conveying Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol from catching fire.

    The incident occurred during early morning rain when a truck with registration number – Lagos MK88US belonging to MRS skidded off the road and fell on its side into the ditch spilling its content into the area.

    Hundreds of residents of the area had thronged the scene struggling to scoop fuel before they were dispersed with the arrival of the emergency responders and security operatives from Lagos State.

    Speaking at the scene of the incident, General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu said that the Agency received the distress call at about 9.00am on Thursday through the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

    He said LASEMA swiftly intervened and responded by mobilizing all the required personnel and resources to the scene.

    According to him, although the scene of the incident falls outside the jurisdiction of its operation but Governor Akinwunmi Ambode gave express approval for the Agency’s intervention with the use of its heavy-duty equipment and crane.

    The LASEMA boss said the Agency responded promptly with other emergency responders from the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Ogun State Fire Service, Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and the FRSC, while the truck was carefully lifted up by the Agency’s Crane.

    He said the Lagos Fire Service also carried out blanket of the truck with chemicals to avoid fire outbreak.

    The RRS, according to him, helped to chase people scooping fuel around the area to avoid any fire outbreak, while LASEMA sensitized the people on the danger of storage of fuel.

    The General Manager, however, advised motorist especially articulated truck drivers to avoid over speeding and always adhere to traffic rules and regulations to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and properties on the roads.

     

  • Police arrest man for alleged N4.5m fraud

    Police arrest man for alleged N4.5m fraud

    A 33-year-old man, Babatunde Olaogun, was Wednesday paraded by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly sending fake bank alerts to his clients to defraud them.

    Olaogun, who was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad  (RRS), had earlier been arraigned for impersonating the state Governor to defraud a car dealer of three vehicles.

    He was alleged to have also produced a fake bank statement, which he used to collect a million naira loan from money lenders.

    According to the police, the suspect generated a false bank alert which he used to defraud his last victim of 25 cartons of HP computers valued at N4.5million.

    Olaogun was said to have promised the company to remit N2.5million within two weeks of the purchase, but instead of doing so, he showed them a bank alert indicating he had made payments.

    But when the supplier went to his account to withdraw the money, it was discovered that no such credit was made.

    Confessing to the crime, he said: “When I bought the laptops I sold to someone else but the person did not pay me on time. When I could not pay the supplier as agreed and he was pressurising me, I decided to send the fake bank alert to him so as to have peace.

    ‘I copied several alerts already sent to me by my bank. Then, I edited and retyped it as sms. That was what I showed the supplier. I didn’t send it to his phone.

    “After waiting endlessly for the person I resold the twenty five laptops, coupled with the pressure of the supplier.

    “Immediately after sending the bank alerts to my phone, I went to his shop to show him the alert so as to give him the assurance that actually the money was sent to him. When I sent the alert to him I wasn’t entertaining any fear.”

    The suspect admitted that he facilitated the vehicles supplied to the office of the governor because of his relationship with the car dealer, saying that two of the vehicles were intercepted before getting to Alausa.

    “Initially I was not afraid, but now I regret my action, because I don’t intend to defraud my friend that supplied the laptops to me.”

    The graduate of Lagos State University who was arrested on May 5, 2017 at his office at Balogun Market, Ikeja, claimed it was greed that pushed him into the act.

    Police Commissioner  Fatai Owoseni said: “The suspect would go into shops and buy good worth millions of naira and instead of paying, he would send fake bank alert to the person that supplied him the goods on credit.

    “When the person went to the bank to collect the money, it was there the person discovered that what they sent to him was fake bank alert. He also generated fake bank statement to deceive suppliers of five million naira and a Toyota Corolla was recovered from him. He would be charged to court.”