Fake taskforce official nabbed for allegedly robbing Okada riders

The suspect

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a man impersonating officials of the Lagos State Taskforce on Special Offences in robbing motorcycle riders popularly known as Okada, in Agege and its environs.

The suspect, Umam Hamid, 48, from Borno State, who is a member of Nigerian Legion, Lagos State Command, was arrested on Friday evening around 10:30p.m. by RRS operatives in Agege after dispossessing one Amin Al–Hassan of his motorcycle.

The suspect, who was working with his accomplice, Tijani Bashir, now at large, had accosted his victim, Al–Hassan, at Total Filling Station, Agege and told him that he was a policeman attached to the Lagos State Taskforce on Special Offences.

He told his victim he was impounding his motorcycle for plying a restricted area and for operating at prohibited hours.

Bewildered, Al–Hassan began to plead for negotiation. Hamid told him to bring N20, 000, but the victim could only produce N5,000, which the suspect rejected.

“When he refused to accept the N5,000, he mounted the bike and rode it towards Iyana Ipaja. I begged him but he told me to get down from the bike because I sat behind him while his partner rode the bike they brought,” Al–Hassan explained.

He added: “I forced the bike to a stop by removing its key from the ignition, and I got down. We were arguing when two passers-by joined us and they requested for his identity card when he told them that he was a policeman with the Lagos State Taskforce.

“Reluctantly, he flashed his ID card before them but one of them was so swift to snatch it from him. He chased after the guy, who quickly ran towards a RRS patrol team nearby who arrested him and collected the dagger he was holding.”

At the RRS Headquarters, three other victims from whom Hamid had seized motorbikes few weeks before he was caught, came with particulars of their bikes, alleging that Hamid, along with an accomplice, took their bikes.

The victims, Shuaib, Abdullahi, Umaru Hassan and Salisu Umaru, stated that the suspect collected their motorcycles in a spate of three weeks, and that one of his victims was shot at close range in the cheek at Shoretire Street, Agege.