The Nation Newspaper

Tag: RRS

  • RRS smashes Okada robbery gang

    RRS smashes Okada robbery gang

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested three teenage robbers, who specialised in snatching motorcycles.

    Daniel Dali, 19 and two others were arrested on Friday around 10:48pm in Ajegunle by patrolling RRS men.

    Dali, an Okada rider from Cotonou in Benin Republic, and one of the other suspects had reportedly snatched an handbag from a woman, who shouted for help. Her cry attracted the RRS team, which chashed the duo. Dali escaped, but his accomplice was arrested. Dali and the other suspect was later arrested after the police combed the area.

    The suspects reportedly admitted at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja that they snatched the handbag, which they did not know contained two wraps of “fufu” and stew.

    At their apartment in Ajegunle, two of their roommates were also arrested but released after being quizzed by the police.

    A statement by RRS quoted Dali as describing himself as the syndicate’s Okada rider. He said he started Okada snatching last year after his mother’s death.

    “My mother’s death forced me into robbery. My mother gave me everything I wanted. If I need anything, I go to her and she would provide it for me, even when I was working. After her death, I had no helper. I mean, there was nobody to turn to again. My father lives in the village in Cotonou, but I don’t want to go back there.

    “I have been lynched in an operation before and abandoned at Ago–Hausa, Ajegunle but woke up the following day. I have been involved in countless robbery operations.

    The suspect added: “Bright and I have been to four operations. In one of our outing, we snatched a recharge card worth N35, 000. He sold it and gave me only N5,000. Although, there are occasional instances when we get nothing from operations but we don’t use guns. We have never operated with guns. We snatch bags, phones and other belongings and escape with Okada.

    “We have choice routes we operate. The areas we have operated are Boundary, Mile 2, New Roundabout, Wilmer and Ajegunle. Ashaolu was operating with Poly before he joined me. We use the Okada given to me by a woman for instalmental payment. This is the third time she would be buying Okada for me. One was stolen at gun point, another, faulty and then this. I have only paid, N75,000 out of N300,000.”

    Bright said he had only operated seven times.

    “During fuel crisis, we suck fuel from vehicles parked on the streets to operate. Several boys do this business in Ajegunle. I know of a team, that lives in different hotels, sleeps in day time and operates at night. This is the only job they do to survive,” he said.

    The suspects have been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said the suspects have given information that would lead to the arrest of other gangs.

  • Okada robbery gang members arrested

    Okada robbery gang members arrested

    Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested three teenage robbers, who specialise in “okada” snatch and run” .
    Members of the gang, including Daniel Dali, 19; Emmanuel Ashaolu, 17 and Ikenna Bright, 17, were arrested on Friday in Ajegunle by the surveillance team of RRS on regular patrol of the area.
    Dali, an okada rider from Cotonu and Ashaolu were reported to have snatched a handbag from a lady, but unknowingly to them, the bag contained two wraps of “fufu” and stew.
    Their victim’s shout for help prompted the RRS team to pursue the duo on okada leading to the arrest of Ashaolu while Dali escaped.The RRS team mobilized a decoy Team of RRS Intelligence who combed the area late in the night, leading to the arrest of Dali, the okada rider and Bright.
    At the suspects’ apartment, two other roommates were also arrested but later released after cross examination by the RRS officials.
    However, Dali on interrogation stated that he is the okada rider for the syndicate and disclosed that he started the business of okada snatching and run in April 2015 after the death of his mother.

  • RRS arrests 46 suspected cultists

    RRS arrests 46 suspected cultists

    Forty-Six persons suspected to be members of Awawa confraternity have been arrested by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives.

    They were arrested in Agege and on Agidingbi Road, Ikeja, last Saturday.

    The suspects, comprising 40 boys and six girls, are Mufutau Boboye, Yekinni Oluwatobi, Emmanuel Oluwatosin, Mutaru Watara, Kazeem Bello, Musiliu Adebisi, Semiu Ayedun, Daniel Oliyide, Adeyemi Adekanbi, Bello Ahmed, Owoseni Ahmed, Qudus Lawal, Saheed Badmus, Taofik Saliu and Adeyemo Jamiu.

    Others are Anthony Samuel, Femi Olayiwola, Elijah Kingsley, Jamiu Ogungbemi, Otapo Sule, Araba Adekunle, Lukman Arowoseni, Shina Aliu, Livinus Akorbar, Ezekiel Udoh, Shina Rasheed, Ibrahim Adarijo, Oniyide Samuel, Fatai Kareem, Fatai Ramoni, Kamoru Jimoh, Korede Adisa, Segun Oderinde, Akeem Habeeb, Samson Olufemi, Ayobami Oderinde, Uche Obasi, Tobi Adenni, Toheeb Olayeni, Aransiola Olumide, Iyabo Ibitayo, Toyin Kafilat, Oladipupo Mariam, Eniola Oyedele, Rukayat Akeem and Kabirat Akeem.

    In a three-hour operation led by Timothy Ojetunde, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), the RRS combed Agidingbi, Agege and Ogba for the suspects who were said to have dispossessed some people of their valuables in Agidingbi towards Omole and Akilo Roads.

    RRS, in a statement, said it had been receiving daily complaints about “a group of young boys and girls with ages ranging between 15 and 22 years, making lives difficult for residents and disrupting the peace in Agege and its environs”.

    The group, it also claimed, rape, loot, snatch and dispossess people of their belongings.

    “Having studied their black spots and based camps around Agege and its environs, we carried out a special operation on the areas identified as their hide-outs. Before we could make arrest of these suspects, they engaged us in a fight, stoning us with pebbles and broken bottles,” the statement said, adding that on arrival at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, the suspects still threatened to make life unbearable for policemen, shouting that “no one can arrest them and go scot-free”.

    “The suspects as obstinate as they are, were still raging that no one can arrest them and go scot-free. They still have the guts to be threatening us that if we don’t let them go, their colleagues who are yet to be arrested, would besiege our base the following day and set them free. But we are more than ready for them,” the statement added.

    Some of them, according to RRS, said they were lured into the Awawa group through the peer pressure.

    A suspect, Lukmon Arowoseni, was quoted saying: “I was forced to join them on the account that I would be very powerful among my peers.  They promised me that I would have free access to girls who are members of the group.

    “One thing is certain, once you join the group, it would be very difficult to dissociate yourself again. And you must also be part of their proceedings and operations anytime they are set to go out. We loot, rape and rob innocent members of public each and every time we were at operation. We don’t fear anybody even police because we are always in hundreds.”

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), described the Awawa gang as a violent group which has been under surveillance.

    “We are after them. Their financiers and leaders are our targets, with those in our dragnet, the tide is against them,” she said.

    The suspects have been handed over to Environmental Task Force, Alausa for prosecution.

    A week ago, RRS arrested 15 suspected members of the group from their Agege hideouts.

  • RRS arrests 15 ‘cultists’

    RRS arrests 15 ‘cultists’

    Operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) yesterday apprehended 15 alleged members of the notorious cult group known as Awawa Confraternity, the group which has been terrorising residents of Agege and its environs.

    They are:  Onyekaba Israel; Olatunde Babalola; Innocent Afamuzoka; Ugochukwu Okafor; Sule David; Kabiru Dahiru; Ibrahim Muafu; Tasiru Suraju; Mustapha Ibrahim; Lawal Ibrahim; Yahaya Yusuf; Tochukwu Ede; Lawal Adamu; Chibuwane Nweke and Amaechi Amaga

    The police team led by a Superintendent of Police (SP) Olabode Aroge swooped on them with seven response vehicles and picked them up at different locations in Agege.

    The policemen responded to the tip-off from incessant complaints of the residents, alleging that some group of young boys are making lives difficult and disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the area.

    “Upon incessant complaints from members of the public most especially residents of the area, which was further confirmed by preliminary investigations conducted by the police, our men immediately busted the area and its environs, with seven response vehicles where suspects were apprehended”, the police said.

    A resident, who pleaded for anonymity, said members of the confraternity were so dangerous and feared by residents.

    He said the group members are committers of sorts of nefarious activities including raping, robbing and looting of people’s properties.

    Police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a SP, warned parents and guardians to be watchful of their wards and children’s behaviours while at tender age as charity begins at home.

    Badmos urged residents to be courageous enough to report any suspicious movement and criminalities in their neighbourhood to the police, promising timely action.

    The suspects have been handed over to Lagos State Environmental Task Force, Alausa for prosecution.

  • RRS bursts car-snatching syndicate

    RRS bursts car-snatching syndicate

    A driver John Godwin was  arrested by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives on Monday for alleged car theft.

    Godwin, a member of a four-man gang specialised in snatching cars, was nabbed with a stolen Toyota Camry marked FKJ 555 CV around Isheri–Osun on LASU/Iyana Iba Road.

    Godwin, who claimed that he is a driver with a company in Ojodu Berger, said he met Ndubuisi in a hotel in Isolo on Sunday. He said he appealed to him to help him tow a car.

    “He (Ndubuisi) told me that the location of the car was far from where we were. With him as at the time I got there were Ade and Ebuka, also members of the syndicate. We entered a Toyota Corolla  owned by Ade and we headed towards where the vehicle was parked in Isheri–Osun,” he said, adding: “When we got to where they parked the car around 3am, Ndubuisi, Ade and Ebuka told me to wait in the car. In less than 30 minutes, I saw them pushing a Toyota Camry. I asked them, ‘where is the key of the car?’ Ndubuisi told me the kick has problem but I noticed one of the side glasses was broken. We tied a rope to the Camry and we began to tow it.

    “We were on LASU–Iyana Iba Road, when I noticed that the rope tied to the Camry had cut. To my surprised, Both Ndubuisi and Ade, who were in the Toyota Corolla used in towing didn’t wait. I was wondering what was happening, just in that moment, I saw RRS men parked by the car. Meanwhile, Ebuka, who was with me in the stolen car, on sighting the RRS operatives, pretended as if he was calling before taking to his heels. I am innocent. I was only invited to come and assist in driving the vehicle. Ndubuisi only told me that the vehicle broke down and they needed somebody to assist in towing the vehicle to Berger bus stop around Mile 2″.

    The car owner, Joseph Inaboya, thanked RRS for helping him to recover his vehicle.

    He said he was still in bed on Monday morning when he got a call from the RRS asking about the location of his car, and he replied that the car was in the front of his house.

    Inaboya said: “The officer asked me to go and check the car. I went downstairs and I couldn’t find it. I went round the streets, I couldn’t find it.

    “I came back home to tell my wife that our car has been stolen. The officer called back to inform us that the vehicle was stolen but recovered and that it is in RRS Headquarters, Alausa.”

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmus said the suspects have been transferred to SARS, while efforts are on to get the fleeing members.

  • RRS claims suspected burglar spends N240,000 monthly on hotels

    RRS claims suspected burglar spends N240,000 monthly on hotels

    A suspected burglar has reportedly told Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives that arrested him that he pays N240,000.00 monthly as hotel bills.

    Joseph David, 20, from Ekpoma in Edo State, was arrested in Ikeja around 4:40am.  after he allegedly burgled two flats on Gbajobi Close, Balogun, Ikeja, and stole three laptops and five mobile phones.

    David was on his way to his hotel located in Dopemu, where he has been lodging for over one month when he was intercepted by the RRS.

    RRS investigations showed that there have been cases of breaking in around Gbajobi Close. The residents have reportedly lost valuables and cash to burglars.

    In a statement, RRS claimed that David confessed that he has been lodging in hotels because he couldn’t live in his parents’ house because of the poverty stricken condition of the environment.

    He was quoted as saying that he spent N8,000,  per night on hotel, noting that he has spent over a month in the hotel.

    He said: “I was returning to the hotel when I was accosted on Awolowo Way by RRS operatives and they stopped to check my bag. They found: 1 Mac laptop; two HP laptops, two iPhone 5; one blackberry classic and two Nokia Touch phones.

    “The house I broke into is a two storey building behind Jabita Hotel in Balogun, Ikeja. I scaled its fence around 3a.m and I finished the operation around 4am. I have broken into some other houses in that area before, where I stole handsets and laptops. I am into ‘yahoo yahoo’ but money has not been forthcoming like before. I could barely make N100, 000 and N50, 000 like before. That is why I used to break in and steal to augment my earning.

    “I stay in the hotel with my girlfriend and a couple of friends come around. Benjamin is the only buyer that I have. I have been an embarrassment to my parents”.

    Benjamin Odinaka, 18, a phone repairer in Computer village, Ikeja, said: “I buy phones and laptops from him. I used to visit him in whatever hotel he lodges in to buy the stolen items.

    “This is the third time that I would be buying laptops and phones from him. I have bought more than seven laptops and several phones. The last time I bought a Mac laptop, an HP laptop, an iphone 5 and a Blackberry phone from him.”

    A man whose belongings were stolen, who simply identified himself as Daniel said: “Break in has been going on in the close for quite some time now. Daily, we hear report of burglars in houses around us. We don’t know this guy and we have not met him before”.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos said the suspects have been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SAS) for more investigation.

  • RRS arrests three ‘conmen’

    RRS arrests three ‘conmen’

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested a three-man gang for alleged phone robbery in Ikeja.

    Eyiema Bassey (35), Azuibike Ogbamgwor (27) and Daniel Nwnubam (33) were caught on Tuesday around 11pm.

    They were alleged to have deceived their victim, Lucas Olusola (24) into parting with a mobile phone as deposit for goods he was offered inside the Ikeja Computer village.

    Bassey, the leader of the gang, said: “The phone was collected in Ikeja around 8pm on his way Conoil filling station in Ikeja. We accosted him when he was approaching Ikeja under bridge with fake foreign accent and claimed to be from Francophone country.  We were trying to strike a business deal with him. What we do is that, we would first engage a passer-by and secure his attention. Later, we would tell him that we are foreigners and that we have brought goods to Nigeria. We would then tell them to deposit money for the goods, but for this guy, he said he had no money and he deposited his phone.

    “He told us that he was going home to get money and we told him where to meet us. Suddenly, I think he realised that he was dealing with fraudsters and he attempted to get his phone back but Nwanubam decided to drag the phone with him before absconding.

    “As part of our plan, Nwanubam was to pretend as a stranger and intervene. Unfortunately for us, he absconded with the phone and he was caught, before he was handed over to the RRS men.”

    The suspect arrested later led RRS operatives to their hide out where the remaining members of the gang were equally nabbed at night.

    The suspects, they resorted to the crime out of joblessness.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmus confirmed the arrest, assuring that there would be no hidden place for criminals in Lagos.

    The suspects, she said, will be charged to court.

  • How RRS official assaulted me, by housewife

    How RRS official assaulted me, by housewife

    •Police: erring officer will be sanctioned

    A housewife, Mrs Abimbola Oriade, yesterday relived how a policeman, attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) on SUCO Road, Abattoir, Agege, Lagos allegedly assaulted her.

    Mrs Oriade, the Davebrooks Limited Media Relations Officer, claimed that the officer fled after beating her.

    The woman said she was attacked by the policeman, who was in mufti in the presence of other policemen.

    She alleged that she was beaten because she and other passengers attempted to criticise the driving of an RRS officer.

    Mrs Oriade said: “We would have been killed, but for the intervention of God. When we complained at their office, they attacked me.”

    According to eye witnesses, a commercial bus was going to Agege Pen Cinema when a lone RSS vehicle marked, NPF 408 D, made an illegal U-turn in front of a commercial bus and reversed close to the bus. The impact caused passengers to collide against one another.

    The driver followed the van, which drove into the RRS office on SUCO Road.

    Oriade alleged that at the RRS office she was beaten along with another passenger.

    She said: “I was in a commercial bus, heading to Agege Pen Cinema, when the RRS van suddenly made an illegal U-turn in front of our bus. The RSS driver stepped on his brake, reversed and rammed into our bus, causing our heads to knock against one another and some against the body of the bus.

    “The RRS van just took off without checking to see if we were okay. The driver of our bus pursued him. When the driver caught up with him in the traffic, he made another illegal U-turn again and ran into their base on SUCO Road, Abattoir. A policeman at the gate, Monday Okon refused to allow our bus to follow him into the base.

    “We all alighted from the bus and stood in front of the RRS office. We were explaining the near-tragic accident to the officer at the gate, when one of the officers in mufti just came and just pounced on me. He started beating me and a male passenger. After slapping and hitting us repeatedly, he said that we should go and do our worst. I made statement at the Abattoir Police Station, Agege. The officer that took my statement was Gloria Ebororo.”

    Efforts to get the authorities at the base to produce the policeman, proved abortive.

    “The other policemen, rather than stop him or fetch him out, started begging me. They started begging after my husband came. They said I and my husband should forgive the officer that assaulted me and allow the matter to die. But I don’t want the matter to die. He slapped and punched me like he wanted to kill me.”

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) promised to investigate the matter.

    She said any officer found culpable will be sanctioned.

    RRS Public Relations Officer Femi Malik said the operative doesn’t use NPF on their vehicles’ plate numbers.

  • Lagosians are timid, says suspected robber

    Lagosians are timid, says suspected robber

    A suspected armed robber arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Thursday described Lagos residents as timid and fearful.

    19-year-old Olaoluwa Saheed who is currently being detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud (SARS) headquarters in Ikeja, stated that he has been having a field day in traffic robbery because Lagos residents tremble at the sight of anything that looks like a gun.

    Saheed was arrested with a locally made short gun at about 10pm on Tuesday by a decoy of RRS personnel who have been on his trail for about two weeks.

    It was gathered that some policemen were deployed undercover to man the Surulere- Costain-Alaka axis following incessant attacks on motorists by in-traffic armed robbers.

    Saheed, whose gang was said to have terrorised the area with motorcycle, was caught while trying to dispossess a woman of her handbag and mobile phone.

    As he was about to rob the victim, the undercover policemen were said to have swooped on him, prompting him to run into a moving commercial bus.

    The police, it was learnt chased the bus and eventually caught it, at which point he was arrested, searched and the gun found on him.

    Narrating how they operate, Saheed said that they usually drive their motorcycle when there is traffic, monitoring motorists whose bags and valuables can be seen.

    “We drive through when there is traffic and monitor our targets. We look out for bags, phones and jewelries and once we see anyone we think we will get something reasonable, we will go and turn and come back there.

    “Then, my second will double cross the person or vehicle, while I jump down from the motorcycle and point a gun on the victim.

    “We have been very successful before because Lagosians are timid. They flee at the sight of anything even if it is toy gun. We have not been having issues and we have been making money.

    “But on Tuesday, while I was about to rob the woman who was driving a Toyota Camry, three people came and caught me. I was surprised because ordinarily everybody will escape and abandon the victim but those who caught me pursued me even when I entered a bus and they eventually stopped the bus and caught me.

    “It was later I knew that they were policemen,” he said.

    The suspect who claimed he used to be a bus conductor,  said that he abandoned the motorboy job because it was not paying well.

     

  • RRS arrests 11 suspected hoodlums

    Eleven persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in armed robberies around the National Theatre and Ijora areas of Lagos.

    They are Friday Onuwa, 30; Moses Okiso, 25; Rashidi Olugbenjo, 19; Olalekan Adebayo, 21 and Sheriff  Sanusi, 27, Ganiu Sule, 30; Michael Thompson, 19; Wale Akindujoye, 30; Aderemi Adewale, 25; Adeshina Adetolu, 30 and Moshood Ajao, 45.

    The suspects were nabbed over the weekend by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Tunji Disu.

    Their arrest followed the attack in a woman, Adeola Sulaiman, whose handbag containing N250,000 was snatched by one of the suspects.

    It was gathered that RRS personnel who were close to the area, heard the woman screaming, chased and caught the suspect later identified as Friday Onuwa.

    While Onuwa was nabbed with the handbag, two of his gang members were said to have fled.

    He made statements that led to others’ arrest.

    Confessing to the crime, Onuwa said: “That fateful day, I and my friends, Kowasibe and Tallest, went to Costain opposite National Theatre with the intention to rob.

    “On reaching there, we saw a woman whom we robbed successfully. It was Kowasibe, who pointed gun at her before she released her belongings to us.”

    According to the police, the suspects have been transferred to the state Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for further investigation.”