MISCREANTS: Lagos Residents on Red Alert against All Odds

Lagos traffic

At the course of the week, news about miscreants dominated the substantial pages of the newspapers, of course not a commendable story but unpalatable as usual.

Lagos, known as a home for all works of life, accommodating Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, (to mention a few tribe), and foreigners as well as investors, is the most populous city in Nigeria and the second-largest in Africa, with a population of 14.8 million, gradually becoming unsafe for the common man who transit from one point to another for daily needs, likewise greener pastures from other states.

This is also due to the rise in the standard of living and the nation’s economy which has suffered severe slowdown.

Just on Monday, July 5th, the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit arrested 71 suspected miscreants and impounded 227 motorcycles plying prohibited routes in the Oshodi area of the state.

In few weeks ago, Premium Times reported, “The police in Lagos State have arrested 58 suspects in its effort to restore normalcy to the Agarawu, Ita faaji and other areas of the Lagos Island.” The arrested suspects comprised four elderly persons, five females and 39 males.

On June 26, the Lagos State Command also confirmed the arrest of some suspected miscreants with dangerous weapons in some areas in Ikeja, Lagos State. In the preceding Thursday, it was also confirmed two suspected armed robbers were arrested at Gberigbe, Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos State around 1am in the morning.

These are clear indications that many scoundrels are still functional in the city and the tendency that law abiding residents may likely suffer some significant losses, forcefully obtained from them.

Some years back, these crooks operate in dark spots, basically lonely route as well as corners, and have changed operations to traffic robbers, stealing commuters’ personal belongings – phones, money, debit cards, etc.

In a separate update, some hoodlums were reported to have terrorized Alakuko axis of Lagos, thereby leaving the residents worried and traumatized. Several reports also branded these miscreants as brutal and merciless; possessing weapons to scare and most times hurt victims, and in worst scenario maimed unyielding victims.

In the attacked earlier stated, three people were killed, some critically injured while properties were destroyed. This is just a fraction of several incidents involving the undesirable elements in the society.

What should regular Lagos residents do then, even as the state government is putting all effort in place to curb the rise in crime in the state? The quick responses are but not limited to – avoiding lonely places, keeping personal belongs in safe places, stop using mobile phones while on transit, mostly in traffic congested areas and lastly, alerting the security agencies of any suspected criminal in the society.