vanguardngr
The deplorable state of roads at Doyin, Orile Iganmu, has become a hot spot for traffic robbery, leaving commuters distressed, due to the incessant activities of miscreants taking advantage of the situation. For over four months, the road has remained in a dilapidated condition, with little or no progress made by the state government towards its repair.
The ever-busy axis of Lagos State is now a nightmare to motorists plying the route, as they are being attacked by teenage robbers, who parade the road armed with dangerous weapons. The situation has been worsened by the absence of the police, which has made it easy for the daredevils to operate freely in the axis both day and night.
Vanguard Metro gathered that the criminals capitalise on the worsening traffic gridlock, occasioned by the very bad portions of the road around Orile Market. This results in long queues that usually stretch from the top of the bridge, coming from the National Theatre, down to Doyin bus stop, which is just a pole away from the ever-busy Orile market.
Roads were deliberately dug to create craters, gridlock
It was reliably learned that the deep craters on the main road by Doyin bus stop were deliberately dug by the hoodlums, who reside in and around the adjoining streets and inside Orile. It was meant to delay vehicles from plying the road freely, so that they will attack unsuspecting motorists stuck in the gridlock.
A hawker plying his trade along the road told Vanguard Metro that the criminals use hoes and diggers to destroy the road at nights after which they disappear, only to come back to attack motorists in the hold-ups. According to the middle aged man, who said he is a Christian and has been saddened by what the teenage criminals are doing, many people have been robbed both in day time and at nights on this road.
“They parade the long stretch of the road from Doyin bus stop to the top of the bridge in groups of 10s and 20s and descend heavily on motorists in the traffic build-up. The only people they don’t attack are truck drivers, but they always warn them not to intervene whenever they are carrying out their operations, else they will start attacking them also.
A vulcanizer operating beside the road said that many commuters and motorists have been shot and wounded; others were also attacked with dangerous weapons along the road, after losing valuable property, including phones, jewelries and many other personal effects.
The deplorable state of roads at Doyin, Orile Iganmu, has become a hot spot for traffic robbery, leaving commuters distressed, due to the incessant activities of miscreants taking advantage of the situation. For over four months, the road has remained in a dilapidated condition, with little or no progress made by the state government towards its repair.
The ever-busy axis of Lagos State is now a nightmare to motorists plying the route, as they are being attacked by teenage robbers, who parade the road armed with dangerous weapons. The situation has been worsened by the absence of the police, which has made it easy for the daredevils to operate freely in the axis both day and night.
Vanguard Metro gathered that the criminals capitalise on the worsening traffic gridlock, occasioned by the very bad portions of the road around Orile Market. This results in long queues that usually stretch from the top of the bridge, coming from the National Theatre, down to Doyin bus stop, which is just a pole away from the ever-busy Orile market.
Roads were deliberately dug to create craters, gridlock
It was reliably learned that the deep craters on the main road by Doyin bus stop were deliberately dug by the hoodlums, who reside in and around the adjoining streets and inside Orile. It was meant to delay vehicles from plying the road freely, so that they will attack unsuspecting motorists stuck in the gridlock.
A hawker plying his trade along the road told Vanguard Metro that the criminals use hoes and diggers to destroy the road at nights after which they disappear, only to come back to attack motorists in the hold-ups. According to the middle aged man, who said he is a Christian and has been saddened by what the teenage criminals are doing, many people have been robbed both in day time and at nights on this road.
“They parade the long stretch of the road from Doyin bus stop to the top of the bridge in groups of 10s and 20s and descend heavily on motorists in the traffic build-up. The only people they don’t attack are truck drivers, but they always warn them not to intervene whenever they are carrying out their operations, else they will start attacking them also.
A vulcanizer operating beside the road said that many commuters and motorists have been shot and wounded; others were also attacked with dangerous weapons along the road, after losing valuable property, including phones, jewelries and many other personal effects.
“Most of these teenage criminals belong to one deadly cult group or another, and they all fight for supremacy after attacking motorists along that bridge. We have seen abandoned dead bodies many times along the streets and only God knows how they are disposed. Nobody can challenge them because they operate as if they are above the law. The streets mostly affected are Memudu, Ipaja, Igbehinadun, Savage, Chemist Bus stop, Coker Bridge, Alagba-which is known as their headquarters, and Ojuafeje Adeleye etc.
“The frightening aspect of this is that policemen pretend as if they don’t know that these criminal activities are going on. These hoodlums kill at will. That’s why they were able to group themselves and attacked Orile Police Station during EndSars protests, without resistance.
“In most cases, the police at Orile end up releasing some of the criminals caught in the act and they return to the streets to wreak more havoc.” A commercial bus driver, who spoke to Vanguard Metro, highlighted how the deteriorating road has become a hot spot for robbers.
He stated: “They are not too far from the streets, as most of them are homeless and reside in Ojuafeje and Adeleye swamps.”
Further investigation revealed that majority of the traffic robbers inhabit the swamp area opposite Doyin pedestrian bridge, known as Ojuafeje/Adeleye settlement. They closely monitor traffic conditions and seize opportunities to carry out their criminal acts.
Vanguard editors robbed
Last Tuesday, Vanguard Group Crime Editor, Emma Nnadozie, and Woman Editor, Morenike Taire, fell victims to the criminal attacks by these teenage robbers.
Narrating his ugly encounter with the hoodlums, the Crime editor stated: “It was around 3.30pm and I was descending the bridge towards Doyin bus stop when we were trapped in the gridlock. Suddenly, about 10 teenagers in rag-tag outfits pounced on my car and were furiously demanding for money.
“My driver told them that there was no money, but they pointed their fingers at me and insisted that ‘Oga must give us something’. “Before I could say Jack Robinson, they opened my side of the door and fleeced my pockets. I cleverly hid my two phones beside my rear seat, while they ransacked my pockets and succeeded in removing the N20,000 in my side pocket. Perhaps they were thrilled with the amount because it was in N500 denomination, they quickly abandoned my vehicle but not without forcefully removing my side mirrors.
“Incidentally, as soon as they left, I exited from the car and ran towards Doyin bus stop to alert the police controlling traffic there, only for me to behold another ugly scene as traffic policemen and some uniformed soldiers were engaged in open confrontation over traffic control. The soldiers were rough handling a young female police traffic officer, while their colleagues were exchanging hot words. Confused, I had to call police authorities at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja to promptly intervene.”
On her part, Mrs. Taire said she was driving through Animashaun Junction, Surulere, coming from Nigeria Breweries and headed for Orile, when about 12 hoodlums, between the ages of 13 and 20, attacked her.
“They were many and were banging on my car, shouting that I should give them something. When I did not reply, they forcefully removed one of my side mirrors and kept on threatening to remove the second one if I failed to answer them. The traffic was at stand still and they took advantage of that. A trailer driver intervened but they ignored him. However, I don’t know what made them decide to go away but they dropped my side mirror on the ground as they fled.
“There were policemen not far away from there, but they could not do anything. It happened around 2.30 – 3.30pm. “I call on government to urgently fix that bad portion of the road, so that traffic will flow easily, so that these miscreants will not have opportunities to rob motorists.
No comments:
Post a Comment