Residents of the Alapere-Ketu area of Lagos State have called on the government to secure their lives against armed robbers in the community.
The residents told the Punch that robbery incidents are now a daily occurrence.
According to them, the robbers have become emboldened as they are mostly unchallenged, as they robbed residents and got away on their motorcycles, tricycles and minibuses.
A resident, Olasunkanmi Lawal, said those heading to work in the morning are soft targets for the robbers.
He said, “It is a disturbing situation for us here at Alapere. Cases of robbery incidents have increased for some days now. This happens in the morning when people are going to the office and when they return at night. We stopped experiencing this for a while until recently when we started to hear of people being attacked and robbed almost every day.”
Another resident, Segun Olanusi, said activities of motorcycle riders in the area had remained unchecked by security operatives.
He said, “Motorcycle riders now work 24 hours in our area which is not supposed to be so. The robbers use this alongside a minibus and tricycle to operate in our community. They use motorcycles mostly in the morning while using tricycles and minibuses in the evening. Just this past Sunday in the morning, a tailor was dispossessed of his belongings at gunpoint in Alapere. He was also attacked with his face brutalised in the process. This is just one of the many cases we record in the community.”
A member of the Community Development Association in the area who claimed anonymity citing security reasons, said other areas known for cases of robbery incidents include, Demurin, Goodluck and Oriola.
The source said, “There has been panic at Demurin, Goodluck and Oriola. The people plying the route have been complaining seriously. These thieves operate in those areas like no one could do anything to them. We have had some cases reported at the police station but we have not seen any improvement.”
It was gathered that enforcement of the ban on motorcycles in the area had slowed down, giving rise to the robbery incidents.
A community leader who preferred anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the incident berated the police for being unable to enforce the ban on motorcycle riders in the Alapere area.
The leader said, “The ban on Okada is not being enforced here. The riders keep working around this area and the police have failed to take action against them. This is not the case at Ikosi. When you go across towards Ikosi, you can’t see motorcycles working there and that is why the other side is free from robbery incidents. But here, they work 24 hours and that is why they operate without hindrance.
“As I speak, many victims of their operation have been left traumatised. We are helpless, we need help. We don’t want it to start resulting in the loss of lives before action is being taken by the authorities. That is why we are speaking up now.”
We want the Lagos State Police Command and the Lagos State Task Force to start enforcing the ban before things get out of hand,” the source added.
