Members of the gang, aged between 17-23 terrified residents of Ajegunle for so long until they eventually met their waterloo.
The boys, numbering 50 to 60 who resided and operated within Ajegunle community usually broke into homes and attacked residents. They were alleged to be boys armed by some politicians in the area during electioneering campaigns. Feeling abandoned by the politicians and armed with assaault weapons, the boys organised themselves and began storming people’s homes.
We reliably gathered that initially they were in small groups, robbing unsuspecting people, particularly those returning from vigil or night parties.
According to residents who spoke with our correspondent, when the boys strike, they usually lay siege to entire streets for hours, moving from one house to another.
Stories also abound of the activities of the robbers from brazen acts like giving prior notice to their victims by writing them letters before they strike. They allegedly took pleasure in forcing siblings to perform sex acts on themselves or their parents.
Many of those attacked were raped.
Disturbed by the nefarious activities of the boys, some residents engaged professional vigilance groups to curb the menace of the armed robbery gang.
During the exercise, they burn tyres, mount road blocks, and scrutinise everyone coming into the streets at late hours.
The criminals went into hiding due to the strict security measures applied by the community and the police, especially after the Lagos State police command ordered a raid of the area. The police successfully restored sanity. Many of the residents who relocated from the area soon returned.
But the joy of the residents of the area was shortlived as the boys reappeared in a deadlier manner. Indeed,they killed one Inspector Taiye Ajetumobi of the anti-robbery section of Area ‘B’ Police Command.
It was gathered that the inspector, who resided in the area, took it upon himself to form a formidable community police that complemented the efforts of the area commander in restoring sanity to the area.
When the gang returned, they wrote residents informing them that they were coming to attack them. Terrified residents cooperated with the gang by setting aside money which they promptly handed over whenever the gang struck.
The group operated without restraint. At Agugu Street, they killed a young man, after robbing a resident. This act of the robbery gang prompted the community to send a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, who took immediate action to check the menace of the boys.
The Area ‘B’ police commander, Apapa was mandated to rein in the boys.
The police have been able to arrest about 300 suspected members of the gang. Confirming the arrest, Commissioner of Police, said the raid was led by Area ‘B’ Command Apapa, That command comprises of Apapa, Ajegunle, Tolu, Trinity, Amukoko, Ijora Badia, Layeni and Kirikiri Police divisions.
“The onslaught was led by the Area Commander, ACP Mohammed Alli, and the divisional police officers of the command. The crime rate in Ajegunle has been brought down. The arrests would be continuous,” he promised.
“We have reliable people whose duty is to ensure that criminals are sieved out from the crowd and so far the result has been good. I must commend the community for the success of this and I hope other areas would understand that police work would be easier if community policing is practised. Other commands are on the alert in case some of them who evaded arrest chose to relocate. Meanwhile, after the screening and proper investigation, all the suspects would be charged to court,” the CP added,
The development has been applauded by the residents who are grateful to the police for ridding the area of elements who had made life unbearable for them. A resident spoke of how the late Inspector Ajetumobi helped to cage the boys and how the boys bounced back with vengeance after his death. It was learnt that the Inspector was instrumental to organising the vigilance group that ensured the area was safe.
Seeing the benefit of working with the police, many residents spoke of their determination to work with law enforcement agents to tackle the problem of insecurity, vowing provide information on condition of anonymity.
On his part, the Area B Commander, Mr. Mohammed Alli, expressed his determination to battle criminals until his area of jurisdiction is free of the undesirable elements. “This is just the beginning. We are ready for them. Since the boys have decided not to allow the residents sleep comfortably, we will battle them until they are no more. We are on course in our efforts to track down the boys that decided to make life uncomfortable for the people. Having arrested some of them, we are still working to get others,” the police boss said.
He urged community leaders to provide useful information that would assist the police in fighting crime. “We called a meeting of all the leaders in the locality to tell them the need to furnish us with useful information that would assist us fight crime,” he said, assuring that the police would continue to wage a war against criminals called on the residents to always be security conscious.(PM News)
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