What is a city without crime? thisislagos descends into the Lagos underground to search out the baddest guys committing the craziest crimes in LasGidi.
Suspects who burnt BRT buses, 518 others arrested (Nation)
The police in Lagos on Tuesday paraded 520 suspects arrested for their roles in last week’s violence.
Six policemen and four others were killed in the state during the mayhem unleashed on Lagos, the police added.
No fewer than 38 policemen were injured; 16 police stations were torched and 13 vandalised by hoodlums who hijacked the #ENDSARS protests, Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu explained.
Among those arrested were those who allegedly participated in the burning of BRT buses and Television Continental (TVC) offices.
Odumosu gave the names of some of the six policemen killed as Assistant Superintendent Yard Edward, attached to Denton Police Station; Inspector Olayinka Erinfolami of the defunct Anti- Kidnapping Unit (AKU); Inspector Adegbenro Aderibigbe, attached to Meiran Division, Sergeant Abejide Abiodun of Department of Operations (DOPs), State Headquarters and two others attached to Orile Division. Read more
One dead as miscreants clash in Lagos (Punch)
Pandemonium broke out on Tuesday when miscreants clashed and killed one person in the Mile 12 and Owode-Elede areas of Lagos State.
The clash, which involved the Mile 12 Boys and the Owode-Elede Boys , was said to have been ongoing for days.
It was learnt that the miscreants took advantage of the clash to rob unsuspecting members of the public of their belongings and vandalise vehicles plying the areas.
Motorists were said to have abandoned the areas, leaving many commuters stranded on the road.
A resident of the Mile 12 area, who identified himself simply as Adedeji, said one person was killed, adding that it was the same clash that extended to the Owode-Elede area of the state. Read more
SARS men seized, sold my properties, man tells panel (Punch)
The Panel of Inquiry and Restitution set up by the Lagos State Government to look into cases of human rights abuse by men of the recently-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad opened hearing on Tuesday with four cases.
First was the case of one Mr Okoliagu Abunike, a father of five, who narrated to the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel how he was in 2012 arrested by policemen from Ojo Police Station at the instance of his boss, who accused him of embezzling company’s funds.
According to him, the cops at the Ojo Police Station, after beating and humiliating him by tearing his clothes and parading him round Alaba Market, handed him over to SARS men, who detained him at Ikeja for 47 days.
He said men of SARS, including one Inspector Sunday, alias Baba Ijapa; and one ASP Haruna, tortured him so much so that two of his teeth were extracted.
Abunike said, “My family didn’t know where I was. When they eventually knew and my mother and wife came to SARS office in Ikeja, they beat up my mother and wife in my presence.
“While I was in detention, they took over my house, they sold all my properties, including my Acura jeep, 17KVA generator, my inverter, my three blackberry phones and my land.” Read more
#EndSARS: Smugglers take over Mile2/Seme route (Vanguard)
Smugglers are having a free ride along the Mile2/Seme Expressway, Lagos, transporting large quantities of imported rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, fish and other banned imports into the country.
Vanguard Maritime Report gathered that as a result of the #EndSARS protest by Nigerian youths across the nation and the subsequent civil unrest, officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, the Police, the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, and other security services have vacated the route.
Some persons of questionable character and motives under the guise of the civil unrest, had attacked the security agents especially the Police.
A source told Vanguard Maritime Report that the crisis created room for free smuggling from Cotonou into the country violating government law on partial closure of the borders. Read more
Six policemen, four civilians killed in Lagos’ bloody week of violence (Guardian)
The Lagos State Police Command yesterday paraded 520 suspects in connection with looting of shopping malls and private businesses in Lagos, just as it disclosed that 10 persons, comprising six policemen and four civilians, were killed, and 38 cops injured during violent protests that erupted last week in the state.
The police also said 16 police stations were burnt and 13 vandalised by hoodlums who hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protests across the state, while it lost 58 patrol vehicles to the hoodlums.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, who paraded the suspected hoodlums arrested during and after the protest at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said apart from the 58 police vehicles burnt and 13 vandalised, 62 vehicles belonging to individuals and those connected with pending cases (exhibits) were burnt and nine other vehicles vandalised.
He added that 15 motorcycles and tricycles were also burnt and 65 vandalised at different locations in the state.
According to Odumosu, the six policemen killed were ASP Yard Edward, attached to Denton Police Station; Inspector Olayinka Erinfolami of defunct Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU); Inspector Adegbenro Aderibigbe attached to Meiran Division, Sergeant Abejide Abiodun of Department of Operations (DOPs), State. Read more
Nigeria police brutality inquiry hears graphic testimony (BBC)
The first witness at a Nigerian inquiry into police brutality has described how he was tortured and had teeth extracted by members of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars).
Okoye Agu was detained after his boss accused him of stealing from work.
The inquiry in Lagos state was formed in the wake of nationwide protests calling for an end to Sars.
It may also look into the shooting at protests last week in which rights groups say 12 people were killed. Read more
72hrs after IGP’s order, policemen still off Lagos roads (Vanguard)
Seventy-two hours after the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, directed members of the force to occupy space to bring an end to the widespread violence in the country, policemen are yet to heed the order.
Investigation carried out in major hot spots and volatile areas showed a noticeable absence of policemen.
Worse still, many of them are yet to walk the streets in uniforms, while all the security measures put in place to safeguard their respective stations, including barricading major busy roads, have not been effected.
More frightening are reports that all emergency calls being made to police stations are barely responded to, prompting a rush by wealthy citizens, corporate bodies and organizations to urgently seek security from private guards and even Oodua People Congress, OPC. Read more
Burnt Igbosere High Court is Nigeria’s oldest judicial building (Nation)
To stakeholders in the justice sector, the burning of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, Lagos by hoodlums under the guise of #EndSARS protest last Wednesday, was the height of hooliganism and wanton destruction of government property.
The ugly incident cast a dark shadow on the judiciary and will set justice delivery many paces backwards.
Igbosere High Court is reputed as the oldest and most recognisable judicial building in Nigeria.
When it was established, it was called the Supreme Court and its jurisdiction was limited to Lagos.
At self-government, the Federal Territory of Lagos inherited two systems of courts; the Magistrates’ Courts and the Supreme Court.
At the creation of the Federal Supreme Court, the Lagos Supreme Court became the High Court of the Federal Territory, Lagos.
The High Court building in Lagos at Race Course, on Igbosere Road, was the headquarters of the court.
Similarly, a 2017 Lagos State Ministry of Justice publication titled: “Lagos State Justice Sector since 1967”, identifies the state’s Judiciary as the oldest in Nigeria. Read more
Panic as police, LASTMA abandon Lagos roads (Guardian)
Lagosians are living in palpable fear as policemen, officials of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) have deserted Lagos roads and neighbourhoods.
Pockets of military personnel are now sighted around areas where there are public assets like the International Airport, the state secretariat, multinationals, foreign embassies, among others.
Lagos residents now feel unsecure with the absence of policemen within the metropolis. The fear is heightened due to the recent looting and burning of police stations where arms and ammunition were carted away.
Joshua Oladipo said: “I left home today (Monday) for the office and I couldn’t find a single law enforcement officer at the duty post in Lagos. This is a grave risk if hoodlums still see that with the relaxation of curfew, law enforcement agencies are absent.
“I fear for the next wave of insecurity looming in the state, as police weapons have entered into wrong hands after many police stations were attacked and vandalized last week. This is besides the confusion and congestion on the road with the absence of the dreaded LASTMA officers.” Read more
Probe panel will get Lekki shootings CCTV footage – Sanwo-Olu (Punch)
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has promised that the Closed Circuit television footage obtained from the Lekki toll plaza will be handed over to the panel of inquiry looking into the shootings.
Sanwo-Olu made the promise while featuring on the ‘Connect the World with Becky Anderson programme’ on CNN on Monday, while responding to questions on the shootings at the Lekki toll plaza on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
The governor said no blood stains were seen at the Lekki toll plaza when it was inspected, but added that two persons had been reported dead.
He said, “Two dead bodies, that is what we have seen from all the morgues, that’s what we have seen going to hospitals, that’s what we have seen as record.
“What has happened is that there have been so many footages that were seen, that people have shown, but we have not seen bodies; we have not seen relatives; we have not seen anybody truly coming out to say ‘I am a father or a mother to someone and I cannot find that person’.
“Nobody has turned up. I have been to the ground. There is no blood anywhere there.” Read more
Lagos indigenes condemn violence, attack on Oba of Lagos (Nation)
The Association of Lagos State Indigenes (ALSI) has condemned the attack on the palace of the Oba of Lagos Rilwan Akiolu.
The group, in a statement by its president, Alhaji J.A.B. Sanuth, general secretary, Ademola Ajao and Board of Trustees member Layi Ajayi-Bembe, said the demands of the youths were relevant, constitutional and beneficial to the polity.
The statement reads: “We were saddened by the infiltration of the peaceful protest by thugs and street urchins which has led to arson, looting and destruction of properties, looting of shops and burning of properties in the State.
“The control of the infiltrated demonstrations by Government most especially at the Lekki Toll gate evidenced by the videos and publications implied that the Nigerian Army used excessive force to disperse the crowd leading to injuries and possible loss of innocent young Men and Women. Read more
Lekki shooting: Nigerians fault woman’s claim on victim (Punch)
Some Nigerians have faulted the claim by a woman that her son, identified simply as Anthony, was killed when soldiers opened fire at #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the yet-to-be-identified woman claimed in a video that Anthony’s corpse was recovered by his friends.
The clip, however, generated reactions as Nigerians took to their social media pages to refute the woman’s claim that Anthony was killed by the soldiers.
Many said Anthony, though a protester, died in an accident.
A lady, identified simply as Pretty Loveth, wrote on Facebook, “He didn’t die at Lekki tollgate, him (he) and his two friends bumped into a trailer on their way home at Petrocam Filling Station, close to Lagos Business School, Ajah. RIP Tony, we all miss you brother.” Read more