Police nab leader of terror gang in Satellite Town

Three Lagos-Ibadan highway robbers arrested

After several months of manhunt, detectives in Lagos State, at the weekend, arrested the suspected leader of a dreaded criminal gang terrorising Satellite Town and environs after they launched a fresh attack on some residents in the area.

The residents had resisted being extorted, but many were left wounded and properties destroyed before the suspect’s waterloo. According to reports, two persons were feared killed during the crisis that erupted on Saturday morning and their bodies were taken away to an unknown place.

Trouble started after members of the gang stormed a warehouse in Abule-Osun with the intention of extorting money from the owner, but the attempt was resisted, leading to the crisis.

It was gathered that the Commander of FESTAC Police Area Command, ACP Halilu Muawiya, ordered the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of Satellite Police Station, CSP Chike Oti, to quell the crisis.

The arrest of one of the hoodlums, identified as Yusuf and popularly called Prince, triggered wild jubilation by residents who had been subjected to killings, extortion, harassment and intimidation for long by the gang.

Described as a combatant, the arrested suspect, sources said, had also spearheaded series of attacks on truck and tanker drivers plying Abule-Ado, Abule-Osun, Alakija, Vin Niger, some parts of FESTAC, Old Ojo Road, Satellite Town, the expressway from Mile 2 to Trade Fair Complex and environs. The gang was also alleged to have been involved in robbery attacks on motorists plying the expressway at night during gridlocks.

It was learnt that the police have had several deadly encounters with the vicious gang led by the arrested suspect and each time, they escaped to their hideout in Badagry after attacks, which often lead to bloodletting, only to strike again when the coast becomes clear.

Sources in the neighbourhood also disclosed that series of petitions about the deadly activities of the gang were sent to different police formations in the state without actions taken to call them to order.
According to sources, they were the people that carted away goods worth millions of naira after breaking into the warehouse of a popular moviemaker, Gabosky Okoye, early this year.

“They also nearly killed another businessman who refused to pay the N10 million levy they illegally imposed on his warehouse by subjecting him to series of torture and beating, leading to his being flown overseas, where he has been reclined permanently on a wheelchair as a result of the injuries he sustained.”

When contacted for comments, Lagos State police spokesman, SP Bala Elkana, confirmed the arrest of the notorious gang leader and stated that they were compiling all his exploits in preparation to charge him to court.

Meanwhile, men of the Ogun State Police Command, at the weekend, arrested three suspected highway robbers at Alapako area on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The suspects, Uzefa Idris, Adamu Yakubu and Ayuba Buhari, were arrested following a distress call received by the Divisional Police Officer of Owode Egba division that a Mazda bus had been forcefully stopped on the highway by a gang of armed robbers and the occupants were being dispossessed of their belongings.

Upon receiving the distress call, the DPO Owode Egba, Mathew Ediae, led his anti-robbery team to the scene. On sighting the policemen, the hoodlums took to their heels but were chased into the bush where three among them were apprehended.

The two victims of their operation, Oluwakemi Oyegade, who was dispossessed of N545,000 and one Itel phone as well as the driver, Zacheaus Olaniyi, were rescued to the station.

They narrated that the hoodlums jumped on the road from the bush and forcefully stopped the vehicle, after which they started beating them with a machete before dispossessing them of their valuables.

Recovered from the arrested robbers are the sum of N99,700 and one Itel phone. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the special anti-robbery squad for discreet investigation and prosecution.