Last Sunday’s attack on the convoy of All Pro- gressive Congress (APC) presidential standard bearer Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu has been linked to displaced motorcycle riders who have now turned into hoodlums following their ban in Lagos State, The Trumpet has learnt.
The attack is also said to be part of a conspiracy against the former Lagos State governor ahead of the 2023 general elections. The attack on the official state government press crew bus occurred at Lagos island where the hoodlums had laid an ambush.
Lagos island is one of the areas most affected by the recent ban on motorcycles announced last month by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Residents who spoke with The Trumpet said the attack was unusual because Tinubu popularly known as “Jagaban” is one politician loved by many in Lagos island and unfortunately it happened when teeming supporters of the ruling party came to welcome him back to the state after defeating other aspirants in Abuja in a keenly contested primary election to clinch the party’s ticket.
The Trumpet learnt that Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) Abiodun Alabi has ordered an investigation into the attack. The activities of gangsters across Lagos is giving the state police command serious concern especially just a few weeks after the ban on motorcycles.
Last week, a large number of motorcycle riders attacked a team of policemen in the Ikorodu area, trying to stop them from enforcing the ban. However, investigation by The Trumpet reveals that if urgent steps are not taken to address the current upsurge in gangsterism across the state, residents will continue living and operating their various businesses in fear. Residents of Lagos are currently living in fear following renewed cases of armed robbery attacks that have resurfaced in many parts of the state.
The most affected are passengers of commercial buses who are now the most targeted. With the ban on motorcycles, everybody now resorts to using buses which means more business for criminals who understand the Lagos terrain. Gangsters now station themselves in strategic busstops and black spots to attack passengers and in the process steal their money and phones.
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Any passenger who resists risks death or serious injury because the criminals carry out such operations with dangerous weapons like cutlasses and short guns.
Many passengers who shared their experiences with The Trumpet said the insecurity will definitely affect their going out and coming back home. Investigation carried out by The Trumpet during the weekend revealed that many motorcycle riders who before now were criminals may go back to their old nefarious trade of robbery since there is no other means of survival.
An Okada rider caused chaos in the public at Oshodi during the weekend when he openly rained curses on those that arrested his motorcycle which he claimed was the only means of livelihood for him and members of his family for the past fifteen years since he came to Lagos.
Also feeling the heat of the current insecurity are drivers especially those in traffic during night hours as they risk attacks. Nollywood actress Yvonne Jegede escaped an armed robbery attack along the busy third mainland bridge in Lagos.
She shared her experience with associates and fans on Facebook, thanking God for sparing her life. A visit by The Trumpet to about fifteen police stations in Lagos revealed more cases of armed attacks are lodged on their counters, meaning that the days ahead are not the best as many motorcycle riders are roaming the streets without any tangible thing to do.
This means the crime rate will definitely be on the rise. The renewed upsurge in crime continues despite claims by police authorities that banning motorcyclists will help their operatives in tackling criminals in the state. Most of the motorcycle riders are foreigners from neighboring countries who came to Lagos to work as Okada operators. A majority of them people are now stranded.
However, the CP has continued to assure resi- dents of the command’s readiness to provide the needed security across the state. Statistics have revealed that police operatives in Lagos are currently below forty thousand to protect over twenty million people in the state. The displaced motorcyclists are over two million in Lagos.
