You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 — 3<br />
How criminals use<br />
expressway tunnel as<br />
kidnapper’s den in Lagos<br />
•One suspect lynched, three arrested<br />
By Efe Onodjae<br />
Social Media Conversation<br />
THE popular 5-star bus<br />
stop along Oshodi/Apapa<br />
expressway, in Lagos<br />
State, has turned into a<br />
nightmare to motorists,<br />
commuters and passersby.<br />
The bus stop is located very<br />
close to the bustling Ladipo<br />
Auto spare parts market<br />
and the ever-busy Iyana-<br />
Isolo bus stop, where buses<br />
and passengers congregate<br />
in chaotic tussle for<br />
roads to their respective<br />
destinations.<br />
The bone of your bones!<br />
The bus stop<br />
where<br />
government<br />
built<br />
pedestrian<br />
bridge across<br />
the road, to<br />
cushion the<br />
effect of<br />
crossing the<br />
main road,<br />
has turned<br />
into a den for<br />
kidnappers<br />
and other<br />
criminals<br />
who<br />
capitalise on<br />
the lonely<br />
nature of the<br />
area after<br />
work hours<br />
to terrorise<br />
people<br />
Den for<br />
criminals<br />
Unfortunately, the bus<br />
stop, where government<br />
built pedestrian bridge<br />
across the road to cushion<br />
the effect of crossing the<br />
main road, has turned into<br />
a den for kidnappers and<br />
other criminals who capitalise<br />
on the lonely nature<br />
of the area, after work<br />
hours, to terrorize people.<br />
On Friday, the burble, however,<br />
burst for four of the kidnappers<br />
who normally abduct<br />
passengers, as soon as<br />
they alight from buses, and<br />
drag them through a narrow<br />
tunnel that leads secretly<br />
towards Oshodi. The<br />
criminals, who usually dispossess<br />
their victims of their<br />
valuables and kill or drop<br />
them to lick their wounds,<br />
were rounded up when<br />
they came out from the tunnel<br />
and were waiting for<br />
their targets. One of them<br />
was lynched by irate traders,<br />
while police arrested<br />
three others.<br />
How the bubble<br />
burst<br />
It was gathered that<br />
youths from Ladipo market<br />
who had been suspecting<br />
the nefarious activities of<br />
the kidnappers laid siege<br />
on them that Friday<br />
around 1pm. Eyewitness<br />
account said they laid ambush<br />
in and around the bus<br />
stop and waited patiently<br />
for the unsuspecting criminals.<br />
According to witnesses,<br />
they waited for<br />
hours and even patrolled in<br />
and around the tunnel<br />
without seeing their targets.<br />
However, their long<br />
wait paid off few minutes<br />
later when the criminals<br />
sneaked out from the tunnel<br />
and started targeting<br />
their victims not knowing<br />
that Ladipo boys were hiding<br />
there. Three of them<br />
were arrested and held captive<br />
while one was lynched<br />
as he was trying to escape.<br />
The remaining three were<br />
rescued by a team of police<br />
men that arrived the scene<br />
few minutes before the irate<br />
crowd tried to lynch them.<br />
Escape through<br />
dark tunnel<br />
Vanguard Metro gathered<br />
that the bus stop was always fearful<br />
at night especially from 8pm<br />
upwards. Reports said the kidnappers<br />
often take advantage of<br />
the traffic that occur at that time<br />
and wait patiently for commercial<br />
buses popularly called ‘danfo’<br />
to drop passengers at the bus<br />
stop and instantly take action by<br />
confiscating their items. They<br />
also abduct them and disappear<br />
through the narrow, dark tunnel<br />
covered with concrete meant for<br />
the drainage that runs across the<br />
entire road.<br />
A tricyclist that normally plies<br />
the road told Vanguard Metro<br />
that aside the surface road gutter,<br />
there is another inner gutter<br />
where these kidnappers take<br />
their victims for slaughter. According<br />
to him, Ladipo boys got<br />
the information and went beneath<br />
the drainage where they<br />
saw four men suspected to be the<br />
kidnappers, terrorizing commuters<br />
that alighted from commercial<br />
buses. “When those vigilant<br />
boys saw them coming out from<br />
the tunnel, one of them tried to<br />
escape but fell under the Five-<br />
Star bus stop bridge and immediately,<br />
those Ladipo boys set him<br />
ablaze. They were at the verge of<br />
doing the same to the remaining<br />
three suspected kidnappers<br />
when policemen arrived the<br />
scene and took charge of the situation<br />
by taking the three of<br />
them away to their station.”<br />
Another eyewitness, a shoe<br />
maker that simply gave his name<br />
as Abdullahi, narrated that the<br />
incident occurred at exactly 1pm<br />
but the police arrived early to stop<br />
three of the suspects from being<br />
lynched by the crowd. “Though,<br />
I don’t stay longer at the bus stop,<br />
I can’t say if kidnappers often terrorize<br />
people at night there but I<br />
know that people fear to pass<br />
through the bus stop at night.”<br />
Police react<br />
So far, it was not possible to ascertain<br />
the extent of police investigation<br />
into the incident but<br />
Lagos state Police boss, Abiodun<br />
Alabi told reporters when confronted<br />
with the ugly development<br />
that, “I always frown at any<br />
act of jungle justice. We are still<br />
investigating the veracity of the<br />
incident and I assure you that<br />
we will get to the root of the matter<br />
in no distant time.” However,<br />
the command spokesman, Superintendent<br />
of Police, Benjamin<br />
Hundeyin, confirmed that an arrest<br />
was made but stated that<br />
those arrested were later confirmed<br />
not to be directly involved<br />
in the allegations made against<br />
them.<br />
Nigerian English all the way!<br />
Oliver Twist?
Change language