Detectives attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command have made a stunning arrest of 22 teenager robbery gangs who specialise in stealing and engaging in cult activities.
The 22 teenagers had among them four females, were said to have been arrested for allegedly involved in separate incidences of robbery, stealing and cultism around Agege, a Lagos suburb.
It was learnt that the two leaders of the first gang, which consist of eight members, Babatunde, 15 and Tayo, 15, were said to have been arrested last Thursday, about 11:30 pm in Mulero, Agege after assaulting and robbing one Aladegbo Abidemi with an axe, and snatching her Blackberry Z10.
It was further gathered that after the gangs were arrested, and confessed to the crime, they gave out other members of the gang the following day who were promptly arrested at different locations with in the area,
Other members include: Matthew, 18; Sakiru, 16; Ganiyu, 13; Reliwan, 15; Ibrahim, 15 and Kudus, 15.
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Aladegbo Abidemi, 26, a female who was robbed said, “I was coming from work and I decided to pass through Mulero to link the closest bus stop around 10:00 pm, I sensed my phone was ringing and I picked it. Just few seconds while on the call, I noticed some young boys about 12 swarming like bees towards me.
“I ran but I fell down. They rough handled and threatened me with an axe before taking my phone. They retreated after they had pushed me into the gutter. A couple of minutes after, I saw an RRS patrol vehicle and reported to them what had just happened to me.
“The policemen immediately trailed them according to my description and direction culminating into their arrest while they found my phone with them”.
It was also learnt that the second gang that was arrested consisted of 10 male and four females. They were picked-up at Abattoir on Monday at about 02:35 am, after three of them had earlier been arrested in Computer Village, Ikeja, for stealing mobile phones.
Given the names of the suspects as Sulaimon, 13; Godwin, 19 and Sunkanmi, 15, they were said to have entered a phone stall and pretended they wanted to buy a phone. They walked out again after inspecting the phone only for the stall owner to realise that two phones were missing. They pursued and caught them on their way out of the village.
Confessing to the crime, three among the suspects confessed being members of the Eiye Confraternity.
Other gang members were given as: Taiwo, 17; Rotimi, 17; Lateef, 19; Tunde, 17; Bolawatife, 15; kayode, 15; Olamide, 15. Other female members of the gang included: Olamide, 19; Agnes, 14; Ayo, 15 and Ope, 16.
Confirming their arrest, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said the arrest of the teenagers was shocking to the authorities. She added that the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni has summoned the parents of the children and he has ordered that the teenagers be sent for rehabilitated without delay.
Ascribing their arrest to “breakdown of family values”, Badmos added that it was an eye –opener to the challenges of crime fighting in Lagos state.