Sixty Two social miscreants, some of whose ages ranged between 12 and 17, were at the weekend arrested at Oshodi, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
Operatives of the Lagos State Task Force swooped on the hoodlums in a mid-night raid, just as another set of 18 recalcitrant traders were nabbed around Trade Fair Complex.
All the accused persons have been prosecuted accordingly, with the under-aged ones referred to the juvenile home for rehabilitation.
In a press release made available to Crimepuzzle by the Task Force Public Relations Officer (PRO), Taofiq Adebayo, the 18 traders had previously been arrested but released after writing an undertaking not to flout the state law on indiscriminate display of wares on unauthorized spots and street trading.
Meanwhile, according to the statement, five of the traders were fined #5,000 each while the remaining 13 were convicted to 48-hour community service each
The clampdown on the Oshodi miscreants was sequel to the expression of concern by CP Imohimi over the spate of criminal activities in some parts of the State, especially around Oshodi and other identified areas such as Mushin, Fadeyi, Agege, Apapa, Lagos Island, Obalende, Oyingbo, Dopemu amongst others, and consequently directed the Agency to continue in its onslaught against hoodlums.
The PRO quoted the Agency Chairman, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, as saying “though, no weapon was found on them but there were strong indications that they were part of the criminals who had been terrorizing the entire area, particularly those attacking motorists on top of Oshodi bridge during peak hours.
“We got to the area as early as 2:00am; it was an eye-sore to have found these miscreants and hoodlums under the Oshodi bridge at such odd hours, walking aimlessly. Some of them were caught smoking Indian hemp, just as majority of them had various types of tattoos on their arms, depending on the cult groups they belong to”, Egbeyemi said, and opined that the under-aged miscreants were definitely products of broken homes.
He appealed to parents to always consider their children as being at the ‘receiving end’ in any family disputes.
Egbeyemi hinted that on completion of all on-going projects by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in Oshodi, there would no longer be any hiding place for criminals to hibernate in the area, let alone terrorizing members of the public again.
Startling revelations were, however, made by some of the accused persons. For instance, Gani Yusuf, 35, said he paid N100 per day to their ring leader before he could be given a little space to sleep under the Oshodi bridge, while Gbenga Ololade, 38, who claimed to be an Ibadan indigene said he had been sleeping under Oshodi bridge for the past three years, adding that he was initiated into a cult group, the symbol of which he has its tattoo on his face, by their group leader.
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