Lagos Taskforce Arrests ‘Omotaku’ Hoodlums Extorting Stranded Motorists

Lagos State Taskforce operatives have arrested notorious street urchins popularly known as Omotaku along the Aboru-Abule-Egba-Abeokuta Expressway, TBS, and other areas of the state.

The five suspects, according to the agency’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, had been accosting unsuspecting motorists and extorting hard-earned money from them when their vehicles developed mechanical faults and broke down along the highway in the Abule-Egba, Aboru, and TBS areas of the state.

Abdulraheem added that the suspects, Alade Olarewaju (M) 25, Oluwadamilare Alabi (M) 38, Sunday Idowu (M) 32, Rabiu Ibrahim (M) 29, and Raji Yusuf (M) 23, were arrested following a tip-off through the agency’s hotlines.

“The five of them were arrested today followed a tipoff through the agency hotlines, the agency operatives swung into action and apprehended the five suspects claiming to be assisting the motorists to fixed the broken down vehicle, while they tried to arrest and extort the motorist, but prevented from doing so when the motorist quickly reached out to the office of men of Lagos State Taskforce who confirmed they are Omotaku who had escaped arrest times without number before arresting them today,” the statement read.

According to the statement, the Chairman of the Agency, CSP Adetayo Akerele, disclosed that he had been on the trail of the suspects for a very long time, due to numerous reports received from members of the public about a group of daredevil individuals around the Abule-Egba axis who accost motorists and negotiate financial settlements in exchange for the release of their vehicles.

He said two of the suspects, Alade Olarewaju and Oluwadamilare Alabi, confessed that their targets are usually goods-laden vehicles and lorries that break down on the highways.

He further explained that the suspects would approach victims in the guise of roadside mechanics with a seemingly legitimate offer to repair their vehicles, before revealing their true intentions — detaining and threatening to remove vehicle batteries until victims agreed to part with money.

Akerele also said the remaining suspects claimed their role was to block drivers from re-entering their vehicles, or to remove side mirrors, in order to create fear and panic and subject the victims to negotiation.

According to him, the five suspects have been arraigned in court on three counts: illegal collection of fees from drivers of broken-down vehicles, wilful obstruction of drivers of broken-down vehicles, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.

He further urged public vigilance, saying, “I urge members of the public to continue reporting any suspicious activities to the nearby Police Station or to the Agency through our feedback channels for prompt action. There is no more room for criminality in Lagos.”

Lagos Taskforce Arrests ‘Omotaku’ Hoodlums Extorting Stranded Motorists is first published on The Whistler Newspaper