20th September, 2012
The Special Court in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos Southwest Nigeria, has sent 65 hoodlums to prison for constituting public nuisance.
The Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit also arrested 24 other hoodlums in different parts of the Lagos metropolis on Wednesday in a bid to sanitise the state.
The 65 hoodlums sent to Badagry Prison were arrested last Friday in Oshodi, Iyana Ipaja and Abule Egba area of the state.
The task force arraigned the hoodlums at the special court for constituting public nuisance. The hoodlums could not meet the bail conditions and were sent to Badagry Prison.
In Oshodi, the task force struck around 4:30 am on Friday and arrested 34 hoodlums, including four under-aged children while it arrested another 35 in Iyana Ipaja area of the state the same day.
Task force Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman stated that the 24 area boys arrested on Tuesday would soon be arraigned in court, adding that they were arrested in Ogudu, Mile 2, Orile, and other places.
He said that the wrath of the law would fall on those convicted by the Special Court to serve as deterrent to others.
Sulaiman disclosed that between January and now, the task force had arrested over 700 hoodlums across various parts of the Lagos metropolis in areas such as Fadeyi, Oshodi, Abule Egba, Yaba, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, among others.
He said government was determined to rid Lagos of area boys as their activities had become intolerable, saying that they stole people’s money and other valuables.
Some of the suspected hoodlums arrested spoke with P.M.NEWS and denied involvement in such act.
One of them, Mr. Wasiu Obishina, 25, who was arrested at Alaba International Market, claimed that he was not a street urchin, saying that he is a truck pusher and that he was helping people to carry their load when he was arrested.
Another one, Chinonso Agokoro said he is a bus conductor and that he was arrested at Cele bus stop on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
Rasak Wahab admitted that he was collecting illegal money from a tanker driver when he was arrested by the task force.
Meanwhile, the task force has arrested a Lance Corporal, Umaru Usman and a driver for driving against traffic on Third Mainland Bridge.
The truck with the registration number, YOBE XB 323 FKA, in which the driver and the Lance Corporal were in was impounded. The truck was carrying bags of rice, cement and boxes of sugar when it was impounded.
According to Task force Chairman, Sulaiman, the truck had been forfeited to the state while the lance corporal, who acted as a pilot to the truck, has been handed over to the military authorities “because we found out that he had no pass and was piloting the vehicle for monetary gains. The driver will be charged to court for violation the state traffic law.”
—Kazeem Ugbodaga