9th May, 2013
Officials of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit have arrested 99 more hoodlums in Oshodi area of Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
The taskforce had last week arrested 183 hoodlums and suspected criminals in Oshodi and charged them to court.
Taskforce officials stormed Oshodi in the early hours of Wednesday and arrested the suspected hoodlums, who were taken to the taskforce headquarters at Alausa.
They were arrested at Oko Mola, a notorious area in Oshodi where hoodlums and suspected criminals snatch people’s bags and rape women.
The ages of those arrested range between 13 and 35 years.
Of the 99 suspects, 25 of them are girls, among whom is a pregnant 13-year old girl, Tosin Odebiyi, who ran away from her parent’s home in Abeokuta and a 16-year old girl, Shola Sunday with nine-month old baby and her lover, a 20-year Abdullahi Wahab.
Taskforce Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman said some of those arrested have been charged to court, saying that the underaged ones among them have been sent to the Lagos State Remand Home for rehabilitation.
He said those with babies have been taken to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development for rehabilitation.
“Some of those arrested had been here before and had gone to prison and are back. We are trying to rehabilitate them. Many of them don’t have homes. They stay in this notorious area of Oko Mola where they snatch phones.
“We have arrested almost all the hoodlums in Oko Mola and we are waiting to see if others will replace them there. This raid on hoodlums will continue,” he said.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga