20 members of the Special Task Force were detained over the weekend by the Lagos State Police Command due to extortion of truck drivers and other drivers on the Apapa/Oshodi expressway gridlock.
15 thugs, three police officers, a representative of the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority are among the suspects.
Their detentions came as a result of several complaints of extortion attempts on the constantly busy motorway by thugs and some refractory law enforcement agents against truck drivers and other motorists.
Idowu Owohunwa, the commissioner of the Lagos State Police Command, is said to have formed an enforcement squad after becoming alarmed by the incident with the objective of raiding the extortionists’ axis, regardless of the agency to which they may belong.
The operation on the axis was started by the enforcement team on July 4, 2023, according to Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command.
Hudenyin stated:
“The enforcement team, which was led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) comprises tactical teams and provost officers from the state headquarters.
“The team was at Mile 2 area of the state, a hotbed for the brazen extortionists, weekend, where a total of 15 thugs were arrested in the act, while three police officers, one FRSC operative and one LASTMA personnel were also arrested for being in cahoots with the touts.
“CP Owohunwa hereby warns that any law enforcement personnel, irrespective of agency, found complicit in the extortion racketeering would not be spared as they would be apprehended and dealt with in accordance with the law.
“Meanwhile, the CP has assured Lagosians, especially motorists that the newly set-up enforcement team would sustain the raids and definitely replicate them in other parts of the state where the same issues exist until total sanity is restored.”
cc: Vanguard Ng
