THE Commissioner of Police Special Squad of the Lagos Police Command has arrested an armed robbery syndicate led by a 43-year-old lady, Adeshina Ayisat Ajoke and two others, Adejumo Fatai, 40, and Akintunde Akanni, who specialized in snatching vehicles from hapless owners in the state.
Following intelligence reports on the nefarious activities of the syndicate, the squad moved into action, arrested and detained the suspects at the state Command for interrogation.
It was discovered during investigation that the arrested suspects (and others now at large) were allegedly responsible for various car snatching incidents between January 2023 and August 2023 across the state including Alimosho, Shomolu, Bariga, Ebule Egba and other areas.
The Police also recovered a number of vehicles, which the gang allegedly conspired and stole during their various operations including a Toyota Sienna worth N1.3m belonging to Awwal Sulaiman, a Ford Ranger pickup belonging to Popoola Ayowole worth N5m.
Also recovered from the syndicate were a Hyundai Santra SUV belonging to Abraham Adeyi, a Toyota Sienna bus belonging to Ugochukwu Celestine and others including a Honda City car recovered from Ajoke, which she forged the documents and was using personally.
The Police also recovered a Toyota Camry from Akintunde worth N4m as a receiver, which was snatched with arms during the operation.
The suspects were subsequently arraigned before an Ogba Magistrate Court for the alleged conspiracy, stealing and armed robbery.
However, their plea could not be taken as the prosecutor, Supol Akeem Raji, prayed the court to refer the matter to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice due to the nature of the alleged offence.
Magistrate B.O. Osunsanmi (Mrs) ordered the remand of the defendants in custody pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice and directed the prosecutor to duplicate the file and send it to the office of the DPP.
The matter was adjourned for mention and possible report of the DPP’s advice, which will determine if the matter will be transferred to the High Court or not over jurisdiction.
Eighteen-Eleven Media