How Lagos was set on red alert as Taskforce apprehends 123 northern migrants

The Lagos State Government at the weekend expressed security alert concerns after the Lagos State Environment Sanitation and Special Offenses Taskforce on Friday intercepted a truck conveying 123 migrants and 48 motorcycles from Jigawa State.

The Task force had trailed that truck on entry into Lagos on receiving tip off from members of the public who raised security concerns about the manner with which the occupants of the truck conducted themselves.

The migrants were taken to the Taskforce office at Oshodi for interrogation after they were intercepted at Agege.

Chairman of Lagos State Taskforce, Yinka Egbeyemi, disclosed that the trailer was accosted in the wee hours of Friday, after a security alert from the public. He said his team swiftly responded to the information, which led to the seizure of the truck and its occupants at Agege area of Lagos.

“While my team was on operation, we got information from the public that some people had entered into Lagos in trailer loaded with over 300 people. We swiftly responded to the alert and trailed the truck from Berger area to Agege. We eventually intercepted the truck which carried no few than 123 men and 48 motorcycles.

“We have interrogated most of the truck’s occupants; from the information we gathered, some of them said they were coming from Jigawa State, with 48 of them claiming to own seized motorcycles. The rest of them said they came to Lagos in search of greener pasture,” the Taskforce chairman explained.

Egbeyemi said the Lagos Police Command had directed that a fact-finding panel be constituted to profile the detained occupants of the truck, but he added that nothing incriminating was found on them apart from the motorcycles.

One of the detained occupants, Shuaibu Haruna, explained that he left Jigawa State to work in Lagos with his motorcycle. He claimed to have a wife and a son, but said he needed to double his income to cater for his family.

Haruna said he intended to stay in Isolo area to which he had already paid N7,000 as accommodation fee.

Another occupant, Mohammed Ibrahim, said he left his base in the Northern part of the country to keep himself busy after finishing his farm work. He said he was going to Badagry to join his brother.