Two Uber drivers killed by passengers; suspects, others arrested

The Lagos State Police Command arrested 2,176 suspects between September 2024 and January 2025.

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The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Ishola, confirmed this on Saturday while briefing journalists on their recent achievements.

He said the 2,176 suspects were arrested for various offences, including murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery.

He said that all the suspects had been charged to court for prosecution.

In a breakdown of the arrest figure, Mr Ishola said that four suspects, Emeka Akwara, 19, David Segun, 21, Samuel Ariori, 21, and Lukman Ariori, 19, who allegedly murdered an Uber driver, were apprehended.

“On 9 January, the suspects ordered an Uber ride at Chevron in the Lekki area en route to Obalende.

“On getting to Obalende in a lonely area, they robbed and killed the driver by stabbing him multiple times on the neck; unfortunately, they were unable to snatch the vehicle.

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“With the intervention of good Samaritans and passersby, two of the suspects were immediately apprehended and handed over to the police, and further investigation led to the arrest of the other two suspects.

“The deceased corpse was deposited in the morgue at Mainland Hospital, Yaba, and a Toyota Camry AGL 650 HN and knives were recovered from them,” he said.

Mr Ishola said that some other murder suspects – Edmond Julius, 34; Abdullahi Umar, 32; and Saturday Oke, 40 – were arrested for allegedly killing another Uber driver, Oluwaseyi Fowler, on 12 September.

“The arrested suspects confessed that they kidnapped the driver in the Ajah area of Lagos, murdered him, and robbed him of his Toyota Camry.

“They sold the stolen car to their criminal receiver. During investigations, the suspects led the police to recover the decomposed body of the driver and the Toyota Camry car,” he said.

The commissioner of police added that on 15 October, the police also arrested two cultists, Samuel Ojenuga and Abdullahi Yusuf, members of the Aye confraternity, for alleged murder.

“Ojenuga confessed to the killing of 12 Eiye confraternity members at Orita School, Ijora Oloye Area of Lagos.

“His accomplice, Yusuf, also confessed to killing three persons at a railway crossing in Ijora Badia, Lagos,” he said.

The police chief noted that, among the suspects arrested, a notorious armed robbery syndicate led by one Fatai Lawal, aka Bullet, operating between Ijora and Isashi along Badagry Road, was arrested on 28 September.

“This syndicate specialises in snatching vehicles, mobile phones, and other personal belongings at gunpoint.

“Other members of the syndicate arrested are Magdalene Jackson, a female; Lawal Michael; Ibrahim Saliu, aka guncrosser; and Ayuba Amzat, 27.

“One locally made single barrel gun with 4 cartridges and three mini-buses popularly called ‘korope’ were robbed at gunpoint.

Similarly, the police boss said a gang of robbers led by one Godwin Chukwuma, 23, and Solomon Balogun, 23, were also arrested.

“They have confessed to various robberies across the country, and one AK 47 with three rounds of live ammunition and two locally made double/single guns with four live cartridges were found on them,” he said.

Mr Ishola said that on 22 November, a traffic robber, Oguche Sylvanus, 27, using an unregistered Volkswagen bus with the Lagos State commercial colour to terrorise commuters along Ikorodu Road, was arrested.

“The Volkswagen bus with other personal effects were recovered, and the case has been charged to court.”

The commissioner of police said three suspects were arrested for alleged kidnapping.

“The suspects’ modes of operation were to lure their victims through a Tinder app on social media, specifically Facebook, where they will make the victim a friend and ask them to come for a visit.

“In this particular case, the victim was lured to a particular house; a N300,000 ransom was collected from the victim, and his phone was taken from him.”

He also said that on 23 October, the police arrested two kidnappers, Hassan Samson, 35, and Segun Akinola, 27, from the Era area of Ojo, Lagos, and rescued the victim unhurt.

According to him, the police also arrested five suspects for allegedly kidnapping one Azeez Olosa at a dredging site called Pump and Sell, adding that the victim had, however, been rescued.

He said the police recovered firearms abandoned by the fleeing suspects.

“On 5 November, at Agidingbi, Ikeja, police intercepted men in a commercial shuttle bus without a registration number with one Stanley SMG rifle and 44 live ammunition.

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“On 6 November, at Odo Eran Area of Idimu, men on patrol sighted men aboard a motorcycle, and following an effort to intercept them, the men absconded, abandoning a bag at the scene.

“Inside the bag were one locally made double barrel pistol, two locally made single barrel pistols with two live cartridges, and one empty shell.

“On 29 October, at Ijeshatedo, a Lagos suburb, some other suspects, on sighting the police, fled, leaving their bags at the scene, which contained one locally made pistol with its own live cartridge.

“On 27 December, at 14 Idunsagbe Street, Lagos Island, information was received that a bag was sighted on the rooftop at this address.

“The bag contained two AK-47 rifles with breach numbers 52573 and 4004855 and 07003-853 K2 assault rifles, all without magazines and ammunition,” Mr Ishola said.

(NAN)