Inside Story Of The Cross-Border Robbers Caught On Top Of Gbaji Bridge, Badagry

By Stephen Ubanna

More facts have emerged how the four armed robbery suspects were caught along the Lagos-Abijan corridor on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 Seme Command patrol team. This is because of the intervention of a Federal Anti-Robbery Squad, FARS, official on mufti who was said to be in a taxi but sighted the hoodlums robbing passengers on the road. The FARS official was said to have summoned courage to come down from the vehicle. He was forced to remove his service pistol and shot into the air to disperse hoodlums. They were said to have thrown their gun the bush when they knew the game was up and their trick could no longer  work as they took to their heels.

Eye witness account confirmed that the FARS, officer  pursued  and caught one of them. Two of the suspected criminals were said to have jumped into the Badagry river while one went into hiding. In the midst of the confusion, a distress call was said to have been made to the Command closest patrol team head by one Isah Adamu, a Superintendent, who quickly mobilised his team members to rush to the scene to block the bridge before the robbers could find their way out. The Customs patrol team were said to have been assisted in the operation by one of the soldiers who was at the location when the distress call came in was said to have joined in the operation including FARS personnel.

Insiders told the Value News that the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, and the Headquarters Strike Force , HSF, including the Seme Command Gbaji Checkpoint officers were forced to compliment the efforts of the Isah led patrol team when the information filtered out that they had come to lay ambush for suspected robbers who disguise as youths filling potholes on the road but only to use that as an opportunity to rob travellers along the Lagos=Abidjan corridor.

 The robbers may have ran into trouble as the Lagos-Abijan corridor is only one route, an indication that it may be difficult for suspected criminals to operate successfully on the international route and escape. The Lagos-Abijan corridor is different from Ogun state which have 84 unapproved routes as discovered by the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, which makes it a haven for  smugglers and other suspected hoodlums to carry out their nefarious activities and still escape the eagle eye of security operatives.

given the support of the soldier who had followed up the operation and the FARS personnel, the Customs patrol team were said to have caught three of the suspected robbers, thus bringing number of arrested suspects to four. That much was confirmed by Abdullahi Saidu, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs and the Command Spokesman.  

It was gathered that at the time of the arrest of the suspects no gun was found with them except the bullets that were strapped round their waist, showing that they are hardened criminals who had been operating along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor to terrorise travelers and traders over the years. They may have thrown their gun away into the nearby bush when  they heard the FARS personnel gun shot.

Saidu the Seme Command image maker confirmed that” amulets and charms”, which many believe were used in hypnotising security operatives on the road were recovered from them. unconfirmed report said the FARS personnel had gone back to the location where  criminals were doing the dirty job in search of the guns before it get into wrong hands again but no luck. Muhammed uba Garba, the Command area Comptroller , who could not hide his joy  in the spirit of inter-agency relationship  while handing over the four suspects to the FARS,, Area Command at Mowo, appealed to security operatives along the Lagos Abidjan corridor to work more closely together to rid the area of criminals  to ensure that the government policy of trade facilitation was not sabotage. The FARS Commander was said to have thanked the Command for the achieving the feat, promising to support the Customs Command in the fight against smugglers.

 The arrest of the four armed robbery suspects: Ibrahim Fasasi, 25, Alex Bright  , 27, Godwin Sunday , 27 and Abiodun Sodic ,21,  may have forced the security agencies to tighten up security along the Lagos-Abijan international route. They may have sent a signal to youths who disguise as filling portholes along the international route but robbing passengers  that it is no longer going to be business as usual.

investigation by The Value News shows that FARS, personnel now patrol Lagos-Seme -krake road regularly at the instance of Edgal Imohimi, the Lagos state Commissioner of police to put an eye on what is having on the road to save travellers from further embarrassment.  The leadership of the Inter Agency Committee, at the Border may have taken up  from where the state police Command stopped by implementing the Presidential directive that the number of  checkpoints along the Border routes  across the country must be confined to the approved ones only as  a way to facilitate trade.,

 The officials of the the Seme-Krake inter-security agencies Committee were said to have  been holding series of meetings on the Presidential order. There are fears that agencies which flout may be dragged to the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, for sanction and who may in turn report to the country’s President if found wanting.  This is where the security agencies may have to queue in into the Presidential  directive to avoid their case being reported to their boss, which may trickle down the line. All the agencies were said to have promised to queue to the directive. the major worry of travellers along the Lagos-Abidja corridor are the numerous Customs and police checks along the road. 

Garba, the Seme Command Customs Comptroller and Chairman of the Seme -Krake , joint Border Inter-security Agencies Committee , may have started working on his officers as he had moved to close the Atlas park with the support of Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS. The enforcement of the decision, the Seme Customs Comptroller had told those that care to listen was informed by the World Customs International Law on transit cargoes and to checkmate the activities of criminals at the Joint Border.