Press Releases

27 Arrested In Lagos For Extortion Of Motorists

Aug 28, 2009 - Twenty-seven persons posing as members of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Related Offences, have been arrest for extorting money from motorists and other members of the public across the State.

The men, whose ages range between 28 and 40, were said to have been arrested by the Lagos Taskforce at various locations around the State while they were engaged in arresting unwary motorists and other innocent members of the public in the guise of men of the Lagos State Taskforce and extorting money from them to affect their release.

Chairman of the Lagos Taskforce, Mr. Bayo Suleiman, a Superintendent of Police, who paraded the illegal taskforce men before newsmen Friday morning, said the arrest was sequel to the directives of the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) that the activities of such men must be stopped immediately.

Suleiman told newsmen at a Conference, which took place in the Alausa, Ikeja office of the Taskforce, that Governor Fashola has frowned at the activities of such people and all others who go about the State harassing and extorting money from members of the public under the guise of agencies of the State adding that such people will no longer be tolerated.

Aside from those who extort motorists, Suleiman said other people whose activities the Governor wants stopped by the taskforce are land speculators and grabbers who employ force to takeover other peoples’ lands as well as those who claim to have authority to demolish other peoples’ houses without proper identification.

He gave example of a particular man in Bariga in Kosofe Local Government Area of the State who went around demolishing peoples’ houses in the night adding that the man has since been arrested and will be charged to court soon.

On the activities of members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers who invade bus stops and road junctions harassing commercial bus drivers and motorcyclists and extorting money from them in the name of collecting dues for the NURTW, Suleiman said the issue was also being addressed by his organization.

“We have had meetings with the Ministry of Transportation on the issue and we have made a point that if the NURTW want to collect dues from motorists, they should do so in the parks, that is what the Law says”, the Chairman said adding that a stakeholders meeting would soon be held to issue the final warning to the Union.

The Chairman said, however, that offenders would continue to be arrested even before the said stakeholders meeting adding, ”We want it to be on record that we had a meeting with them and we have warned them to steer clear of the act of collecting money from motorists at bus stops”.

He advised members of the public who encounter such people or know where they carry out their illegal activities to contact the Taskforce on 08033183477 or 08037238388 for immediate action.

Earlier, in his introductory remarks, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to the Governor, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said the purpose of the conference was to draw the attention of the public to the activities of some criminally minded people who go about extorting money from innocent citizen in the guise of being a member of one agency of Government or the other.

Bello declared, “The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has given directive that the activities of these people must stop forthwith and all those involved must be arrested”, adding that the 27 men paraded before newsmen were actually caught in the act of extorting money from innocent members of the public.

The Governor’s Spokesman, who said the men would be charged to court immediately, said the directive of the Governor was in response to the yearnings of the populace who, according to him, have cried out to the Governor against the activities of the extortionists.

“We are in a period when armchair critics and political jobbers want to fault the progressive steps of the administration. They say the Government has no human face but I don’t know what better human face the Government can have than responding to the yearnings of the people”, he said

Also in attendance at the Conference was the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku.