They  lurk around areas prone to traffic in Lagos and sometimes at bad spots , waiting for  their prey. Sometimes, they pretend to be beggars and at other times  hawkers or commuters.

They are between ages 16 and 40, all males. Some of them are homeless. They sleep in markets , bus-stops, open fields and uncompleted buildings after operation.

Formerly , they operated only under the cover of darkness, springing out from their hiding places, to  dispossess their victims mainly of cash, phones and laptops.

But today, they brazenly display their acts of notoriety in broad daylight, without fear of being  apprehended by security agents.

Traffic robbers!

Traffic congestion in Lagos has become a recurring   nightmare that seems to have overwhelmed relevant government agencies.

Although the Lagos State Police Command which is the lead agency in traffic management, has come out with many strategies to manage the situation,  the continued influx of Nigerians from other parts of the country to Lagos, due to the state of  insecurity there,  has heightened the already tensed traffic situation in Lagos.

Daily, Lagosians  go through harrowing experiences in gridlock. As if that is not enough, traffic robbers hijack the situation to carry out their nefarious activities, which have sent some Lagosians to early graves while others are left with scars of the ugly encounter.

Prone areas: Mile-Two/Badagry expressway

Areas where these traffic robbers operate include Agboju/Alakija , Abule-Ado, Okokomaiko , Iyana-Oba, Oko-Afo and Magbon, all , along the Mile-Two/Badagry expressway.

On this axis, they operate in batches. A vehicle for instance can be attacked by different groups. One of the reasons of having  an  upper hand is majorly as a result of bad road, which keeps motorists at a spot for several hours.

 At Alakija and Mile-Two, presence of articulated vehicles which usually take over the entire road, aid traffic robbery operations.

Few months ago, two suspected members of  the gang that had been terrorizing commuters along Agboju/Alakija  were arrested   by policemen  led by the then DPO Satelitte, CSP Chike Oti, in a hotel around Satellite Town.

The  gang as gathered,  converged in the hotel between 6pm and 7pm, on any given operation day to strategize on how and when to launch an attack on their victims that were  trapped in traffic .And at the end of each operation,  members of the gang  would retire back to the hotel to share their loot and return again, between 12 midnight and 1am to continue from where they stopped.  By that  time, trucks would have taken over the ever busy expressway, leaving  private motorists  at the mercy of the gang.

Lagos/Ikorodu Express road

The Lagos /Ikorodu express road   is another axis where traffic robbers hold sway, no thanks to the perennial gridlock in which motorists could be trapped for hours. Findings revealed that the  gridlock  at  Ketu, Ojota and Mile 12 bus-stops is caused by commercial bus-drivers who park on the road to pick or drop passengers and traders who  display their  wares on the road  especially in the evening, and hawkers who approach passengers trapped in traffic for patronage.

At Fadeyi, Maryland and other bus-stops along the expressway, traffic robbers take advantage of the  build- up of traffic caused by traffic lights to operate.

 Ogolonto and Ikorodu bus-stops inside  Ikorodu, are a living hell, as  operations of these dare devils are done without recourse to human life.

Sometime last year, a hawker had her life snuffed out by   bullet of a traffic robber during operation.

These traffic robbers also operate with motorcycles , for easy escape and maneuverings.

Lagos Island

Iddo, Eko bridge , Akpongbon, Ikoyi bridge, Idumota, Ijora Olopa, Eyin-Eyo and the Third Mainland bridge, all on  Lagos Island, are not left out in the traffic robbery spree.

Oke-Afa

Traffic robbery at Oke-Afa, Isolo area of Lagos , dates back  over a decade ago when a group of armed boys attacked motorists on daily basis , until policemen attached to the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad , SARS launched a manhunt which ended the group’s reign of terror.

Source: Vanguard