VICTOR AYENI writes about the violent attacks meted out to Lagos residents by louts who rob, extort, and harass hapless passers-by in different parts of the state
When a barrage of slaps landed on Peter Eze’s face on the evening of August 17, 2016, for the first time, he experienced one of the ugly scenarios he had heard about the ever-busy streets of Oshodi in Lagos State.
Eze, a native of the Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, set out from his parent’s home in Mushin to visit his uncle who lived in Ladipo.
The graduate of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, who was 19 years old at the time, was listening to music through earphones attached to his Infinix phone, which he had placed in his pocket.
Shortly after getting off the bus in Oshodi, the 27-year-old walked along the road where he was accosted by thugs who attacked him and took his phone and wallet.
Recounting his ordeal to Saturday PUNCH, Eze said perhaps the incident could have been averted if he had crossed to the other side of the road because more people were walking on the left side than the right side he was walking on.
“I was enjoying the music while walking when a harsh voice cut through in Yoruba, which I am also fluent in. ‘Hey, look here!’ a guy said to me, but I ignored him and kept walking.
“In no time, about five guys circled me and charged at me, ‘We were calling you and you didn’t respond, are you mad?’ Before I could say anything, a slap landed on my face. I was still disoriented when another landed on my face again.
“The next thing I felt were hands going in and out of my pockets. They took my phone and my wallet.
“This happened at past 6 pm because I still had my wristwatch on me. It happened at a time when people could see what was going on, but people were just minding their business and looked on; nobody turned to help or intervene.
“One of the guys shoved me to the floor and began beating me. I just laid there in fear, unable to do anything. When they left me, I managed to sit up on the ground in confusion watching the people walking past me. Eventually, I had to clean myself up.
“There was no phone to call my uncle or my mum, so I turned back and trekked back home to Mushin. My eyes were swollen and my mother was alarmed, but thankful that they didn’t kill me.”
Highlighting other stories of robberies he had heard about since his experience, Eze described the Oshodi area as a zone “where many people get robbed at night and it’s always the underbridge side”.
Two men attacked in Ketu
Like most Saturday evenings, Ayomide Ojedele, who lives in the Mile 12 axis, goes to watch football matches at the Agiliti area in Ketu.
However, on March 16, 2024, the 29-year-old, came under an attack by some touts on his way home from a viewing centre.
“I was holding my phone to see through the dark when three guys suddenly cornered me around the Alapere axis and ordered me to bring the phone I was holding, I refused and it turned into a struggle. They were trying to wrest my phone from my hands and while that was going on, I pushed one of them to the floor.
“It seems like they were cultists because one of them spoke a slang term to the other, more like, ‘Give him one’.
“That was how one of them hit me with a cutlass in the head and my head began to bleed. Eventually, they snatched the phone from me.
“The only fortunate thing was that I was able to retrieve my Bank Verification Number and account number that night and blocked my account, so they couldn’t use the stolen phone to withdraw my money,” he recounted.
Another resident of Mile 12, Ebenezer Ayinde, who was on his way to visit his elder sister one evening in 2023 said he was attacked when he was around the overhead bridge at Ketu.
“This happened in broad daylight. Two area boys accosted me ordering me to stop. They told me, ‘Don’t you know us? We live here under the bridge.’ I didn’t answer them because I figured they were targeting the phone I was holding, so I quickened my pace.
“Because I didn’t respond to them, one of them walked ahead, stopped in front of me, and gave me a painful blow in my ear. They expected me to wait up so they could pounce on me and take my phone but I kept walking. People were there but they looked on as if nothing was happening.
“Later when I left the area entirely and checked my ear, I saw that blood was coming out, but at least, they didn’t succeed in robbing me,” Ayinde told our correspondent.
Filmmaker raises the alarm
Popular filmmaker Biodun Stephen, in a video that went viral on April 5, described the extortions and attacks on residents by miscreants in several areas of the city as a “pandemic” that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and everyone in power needed to tackle.
Stephen mentioned areas such as Oshodi, Agege, and Lagos Island, which she stated had become notorious for being unsafe for people to walk as they would be dispossessed of their phones and extorted by louts armed with weapons.
She said, “You can’t pick up a phone call on the road as you are walking. This bunch of guys will gather around you and they will demand your phone – if they don’t even snatch it. And if they snatch your phone, they will tell you brazenly to your face ‘If you want us to return your phone to you, then go and bring money.’
“We had a case of a lady whose phone was snatched from her and she ended up paying N50,000. Yesterday, this one happened a bit close to home.
“We kept on calling a crew member of ours and he wasn’t taking his calls. We were worried but we kept calling. He was forced to take his call and he was on the street of Agege.”
“Suddenly, seven or eight boys surrounded him brandishing weapons in broad daylight. Please, understand that this happened around 9:30 am; people were passing and everybody ignored him. Even the people selling stuff close to where this happened didn’t interfere. This implies that this is what is occurring in that place.
“They were pushing him (the crew member) around and threatening to stab him and nothing would happen till he paid them to retrieve his phone from them. He ended up parting with N5,000 yesterday.
“As he was telling us that story another person was confirming that the same thing happened to her three weeks ago. Please, in the name of God, this seed that has been planted has grown into a tree and it is multiplying; very soon it will become a forest. This is a country and a state that has laws and security,” she added.
Pleading with the governor and the state authorities to nip this problem in the bud, the film director added, “These boys have become brazen, stabbing people in broad daylight, demanding, exploiting, extorting, and threatening.
“We are not safe in our cars so don’t think this doesn’t concern you; they are already knocking on car windows. We are not safe!”
As the video went viral last weekend, several netizens took to social media to share their experiences of being harassed by louts in Agege, particularly around the overhead bridge.
The Agege Pen Cinema Bridge which was completed in September 2020 and inaugurated by Sanwo-Olu in February 2021 has been described by residents to be an unsafe zone for citizens due to the hoodlums that have found refuge there.
Saturday PUNCH observed that in a section of the bridge, there was an abandoned rail line dotted by vendors and hawkers of various wares and two staircases that were often used by pedestrians to cross the lines.
The site has been described as the ‘axis of evil’ where robberies, extortions, and harassment by louts take place, even in broad daylight.
An Instagram user, Shayez, wrote, “I work in the Agege Local Government (Area) and we’ve been advised never to pick (phone) calls or put anything tangible in our bags when walking across Agege underbridge and its environs as one could lose his or her life to these street urchins.
“You have to adhere to the warning, otherwise you might not live to tell the stories. I’ve heard over 10 stories of how they hijacked people’s bags, and phones, and in some cases, some victims get killed!”
Corroborating Shayez’s stance, another Instagram user, Obafemi Adeleye, stated, “These urchins are always under the bridge, once you are about to cross the railway.
“They are mostly at that spot when you are about to make use of the stairs and they attack mostly females. That Agege bridge is worse. It has happened to me too but thank God I was raised on the street.”
How hoodlum threatened to kill me – Victim
Recounting his experience on X, a Lagos resident who gave his name as Pelumi said he and his friend were accosted by a lout in Agege who ordered them to hand over their money.
“This happened to me and my friend in Agege on the night of December 26, 2021. The guy stopped us and greeted us like a normal human being. My friend answered and I also answered. The next thing he demanded we give him something. I said I didn’t have my friend likewise.
“Then he said in Yoruba, ‘Ma gun iya yin ni isinyi’ (I will just stab your mothers now). My friend agreed to give him N2,000 but he refused, asking us whether he told us he was hungry, and why we were giving him N2,000.
“He turned to me and asked about mine. I told him I didn’t have any money and he brought out his knife and said, ‘Iya e ma foju sun kun e nisinyi’ (Your mother will soon cry over your death).
“I was shocked. Thank God for an old woman selling water close by who told him to leave us. That was when he let us be. Mind you that Agege Oju Irin (old railway) side is their base,” Pelumi, in a tweet posted on April 5, recalled.
Another X (formerly Twitter) user who gave her name as Olufunke also wrote, “Those Agege boys are terrible! Are they all on drugs? Even when you are walking, they come and start harassing you for money and touching you.”
Sharing a video on March 20, an X user, @Ogeshinikese, lamented how miscreants extort money from pedestrians who pass through the stairs at the Agege underbridge.
“The authorities should help address boys raiding people there. I have slapped them when confronted but I can’t imagine how many times I have to be violent. I passed through Agege under the bridge but I don’t know the update there because I only drive across the bridge now.
“The Force Public Relations Officer should help us talk to the police in Agege because I think they’re scared to act,” he wrote.
In another video posted by the same X user on April 5, in which some louts were seen having an altercation with three men, he said, “This nonsense is happening in a state, with everybody fighting. They are demanding N100 from passers-by. If you don’t pay, there’s serious beating.”
The red zones
Aside from Agege, several other Lagos residents told Saturday PUNCH how hoodlums perennially harassed passers-by in areas such as Bariga, Orile, Somolu, Obalende, Ojo, and Mile 2.
“Areas like Bariga, Somolu, and the Bajulaye axis are red zones where these incidents happen. Those thugs are something else.
“I have seen them stop commercial bikes or tricycles, order passengers to come down, and give them money. If you dare resist, big slaps can land on your face, and mind you, these harassments occur in broad daylight, not even at night or evening and people around will be looking on as if it’s a skit,” a shoe vendor, Isaiah Adeogun, told our correspondent.
Corroborating Adeosun’s opinion, an Uber driver, who gave his name as Samuel, also told our correspondent that certain areas in the state were unsafe for car owners and pedestrians, especially in the evenings.
He added, “In Orile, you will see the thugs armed with cutlasses and they will hit your car’s bonnet or windows and ask you for money, if you dare open the window, you’ll get robbed and extorted. You will see them attacking people even in broad daylight.
“In areas like Oshodi, Ketu, Mile 2, Idumota, Ikotun, or Obalende, I can’t even park my car to get down or purchase something if it’s evening. Some other unsafe zones are Westminster (Olodi Apapa), Ojo, Volks, and even Alausa towards CMD Road under the bridge.”
Wistfully, a digital marketer, Chris Nomor, told Saturday PUNCH how he was attacked and robbed in broad daylight in Iyana Iba, along the Ojo-Lagos State University Expressway.
“It happened in 2017 when I was going to visit a friend. I alighted in the area and as I walked towards the street I was visiting, I suddenly felt a slap from the back, and then another.
“When I turned around, I saw that there were five louts. They descended on me with fists and took my bag. My laptop, ATM card, wristwatch, and phones were taken. I later sneakily removed my international passport before they ordered me to walk away from there.
“They emptied my account. I had just returned to Nigeria at the time and I never experienced such a thing before. For days, I still couldn’t believe it was real,” he said.
Our correspondent gathered that several footbridges in Ikeja Along, Obanikoro, and Ojota, as well as pedestrian bridges in Ladipo, Berger and Oshodi are also blackspots as they are often inhabited by robbers and drug-addled thugs who attack and dispossess passersby of their valuables.
The pedestrian bridges, it was learnt, have become a profitable hub for pickpockets and other small-time thieves in addition to the miscreants who harass women.
A viral video shared online by Guardian Nigeria on March 20 showed a thug who blocked two women carrying loads from climbing a bridge until they paid the N100 levy he demanded.
The video also showed other pedestrians without any load having unhindered access to use the bridge.
The caption read, “In Yaba, Lagos State, individuals are imposing a fee of N100 on pedestrians carrying loads to use the pedestrian bridge, coinciding with the enforcement of laws against jaywalking in Lagos. Concerned citizens on social media, including X, urge the state government to address this issue.”
Following the report, operatives of the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps arrested the miscreants who were immediately charged in court.
Giving an update on the matter, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on March 21, wrote on his official X account, “As a follow-up to the arrests made of miscreants extorting traders on the pedestrian bridge across Lagos, the magistrates’ court sitting in Oshodi convicted the defendants for breach of public peace and illegal collection of money from people with goods.
“Magistrate Oshikoya sentenced the defendants to one month in prison. Also, the magistrates’ court sitting in Oshodi convicted 17 defendants for crossing the highway and not making use of the pedestrian bridges. The court found them guilty and sentenced them to two months in prison with an option of N7,000 fine.”
In another post on April 5, Wahab wrote, “A total of nine miscreants were apprehended by the officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps during (an) early morning operation at Bolade, Shogunle, PWD, and Ladipo pedestrian bridges for preventing people from using the facilities.”
Police arrest 303 suspects
On Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement, disclosed that the police arrested no fewer than 303 suspects during a raid of criminal hideouts following reports of illegal seizure of phones within the Lagos metropolis.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Adegoke Fayoade, mni, has received with concern reports that young men in certain parts of Lagos State seize passers-by’s phones to extort them despite the sustained raids being carried out by officers and men of the command.
“CP Fayoade has, therefore, directed all area commanders and divisional police officers, especially in identified areas, to redouble security architecture and enhance their neighbourhood and foot patrol within their areas of responsibility to tackle this emerging menace.
“The CP has further warned that any officer in whose AOR such an incident occurs again would be severely sanctioned, assuring that the command remains unrelenting in its resolve and determination to continue to stamp out and make the public space hot for criminal elements.”
According to the statement, Fayoade also ordered the immediate prosecution of the 303 suspects arrested during the raids which were carried out by area commanders, DPOs, and the Rapid Response Squad.
Experts blame unemployment, politics
But the Executive Director of Bridge Africa Initiative, Mr Opeoluwa Taiwo, in a phone interview with Saturday PUNCH, pointed out that hooliganism had been a problem and a negative behavioural pattern in the state long before now.
He further stated that unemployment had been the bane of the spike in the wave of crime on the streets due to the lack of engagement of youths.
He explained, “The first thing we must understand is that these young men are unemployed and they are unskilled, and like it’s said, an idle man is the devil’s workshop, so the government needs to bring the dividends of democracy closer to the people.
“People need skilled development centres in different areas of the state. Through these engagement centres, young people can learn skills and become barbers, caterers, or fashion designers.
“The government also needs to empower them so they can be taken off the streets. Also, there must be a law that states that louts who are roaming about at night without an identity card should be arrested.”
Also commenting on the menace of hoodlums in the state, a sociologist, Adekunle Kukehin, said the problem had been worsened by the high rate of hunger.
“There are some areas you will go to in Lagos and you will be forced to pay louts to pass through the place safely. The political dynasty in the state came into power with the menace of agberos and has been sustained by it.
“This has fostered a culture of tyranny in which miscreants wield so much power in a city and believe they are untouchable. However, we must commend the police for its recent actions in arresting them, that’s a good place to start,” he said.
We don’t condone hooliganism – Lagos
However, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, in an interview with our correspondent, debunked the claim that the state had a culture of tyranny wielded by hooligans.
He added, “If there they are referring to the National Union of Road Transport Workers people, I think it won’t be right for them to be so derided because they are a union and their membership is by volition.
“They have their laws, rules, and regulations, then there are some other people who call themselves agbero, and under the guise of calling themselves agbero, they are doing things that are against the law and unfavourable to Lagosians. Such people should be reported to the law enforcement agencies and they will go after them.
“We do not condone hooliganism, illegality, or any behaviour that may be of negative effect to other residents. We are a civilised people; we are a people of culture and we won’t accept those who are disturbing the lives of other people, so it is incorrect for anyone to say there is a culture of tyranny in Lagos.
“The government has been doing everything to reform those who are not doing well, and that is why vocational centres have been established all over the place to train them to learn trades. The government has also supported initiatives like Eko Inspire Me created by Aralola Olamuyiwa (the drummer) which is targeted at area boys who are sent to schools, reformed and empowered with businesses.”
