The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu on Thursday, 25th March, 2021, met with the traffic officers in the state with their respective Area Commanders and DPOs and the Officer in charge of the Motor and Traffic Division of the command, at the Conference Hall, State Headquarters, Ikeja, on the plans to have better traffic management in the state.
The meeting, at the instance of the police boss, addressed the major challenges of traffic management and possible way forward. The Commissioner of Police oredered the traffic officers to change their duty shifts of the traffic personnel in the state to cater for both day and night traffic management.
CP Hakeem Odumosu called their attention to the strategic places and roads where rehabilitation and construction works are ongoing, where we will naturally experience heavy traffic, and directed that more personnel be deployed to propel free flow of traffic at those places across the state.
The police boss, who is proactive and sensitive to managing the traffic, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations, DCP Ahmed Kontangora, to issue a directive implementing the new 10pm to 10am, night duty and 10am to 10pm morning duty shifts at strategic places across the state to ease traffic problems.
The police chief also ordered the Operation Officers at various Divisions to work with the personnel on night duty for protection and quick response to traffic incidences.
He also directed that operational and tactical units work with the Motor and Traffic Division of the command in order to tackle traffic robbery in the state as the Commissioner of Police put the police power bikers and personnel of the Rapid Response Squad on their toes for continuous surveillance and operations to combat the menace of traffic robbery in Lagos State.
The Commissioner’s strategy has paid off as the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) at early hours of Thursday 25/03/2021, nabbed another four (4) suspected notorious traffic robbers around Abiola Garden area of Ojota.
Premised on the intelligence gathered on operations of criminals around Ketu axis, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu deployed a surveillance team from the Rapid Response Squad, led by the Commander, CSP Yinka Egbeyemi, to monitor the entire Ikorodu road axis in reaction to series of complaints of early morning robbery attacks on motorists including the residents around Owode-Onirin, Mile 12, Ketu and Ojota axes.
The surveillance team was on a decoy at about 6:30am beside ‘Abiola Garden’ when the suspected criminals came out with dangerous weapons in an attempt to rob the policemen, demanding for their wallets and other valuables before they were all apprehended.
The suspects are Adewale Ismaila (30yrs), Chinadu Okafor (26yrs), Tote Victor (19yrs) and Abdulahi Olalere a.k.a ‘Orobo‘ (20yrs).
One of the suspected notorious traffic robbers, Abdulahi Olalere a.k.a ‘Orobo‘, confessed to belong to a robbery gang which specializes in attacking and robbing innocent motorists of their belongings in the early hours along Ikorodu Road.
He also confirmed that his gang was responsible for the early morning robbery attacks on innocent motorists around China Town and tipper garage by Ketu area of Ikorodu Road on Tuesday, 23th of March, 2021.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Abdulahi Olalere a.k.a ‘Orobo‘ was recently released from a Correctional Center having 6 months jail term for same robbery incidents in 2020.
The Commissioner of Police, while directing that the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba for Investigation, however promised to channel both material and human resources of the command to tackling traffic challenges including traffic robbery and other forms of criminality in Lagos State.