Maybe for once Aremu was right in describing BiafraNigeria's estwhile seat of power as a JUNGLE.

The security in that place has deteriorated to such a level that armed marauders now storm party venues and despatch some people to their maker. Just like that!

If you ask me, this is the law of the jungle

I believe that this country called Nigeria will never get better. In order to curtail crime in every facet of life, Nigeria must be split into at least, three countries. That way, each government can devise a crime management approach to a relatively safe and progressive country/society.

Well done to the "robbers". If they would keep on striking on those that have stolen from us all, I'd say kudos to them. Crime in the Nigerian sense should be a relative term. An unemployed youth robbing revelers in a government official's residence should be given a medal of honor.

If I had the means, I would supply all the "robbers" with a road map to the houses of the government officials and a timetable of their parties. That way they would be too occupied and well supplied to bother with we lesser mortals. And those that died? Well the term for that is hardly original, collateral damage. The average man on the street is hard pressed to provide gari for his hungry family yet some rogue flaunts what he has stolen.

Convert the owambe money to job creation, better-equipped police, medicare, and social infrastructure in general and Nigeria would be crime-free.

This move that takes immediate effect is a fall-out of yesterday’s killing of three police officers and two motorists on the Ojo/Badagry expressway in Lagos by armed robbers numbering about 50. One of the bandits was later lynched by a mob that assisted the police when the bandits were trying to escape.

Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dele Alake told reporters at the end of emergency meeting of the state security committee that the new measures were aimed at stemming the upsurge in violent crimes in the state.

He said the council also re-emphasised the one million naira (N1 million) pledged by the governor as reward for anyone who provides information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in the state, particularly armed robbers.

To facilitate this, Mr. Alake said the council planned to establish information centres across the state. Civilians to give members of the public the confidence to patronise them will man the centres.

He said, however, that as a temporary arrangement, the public could send such information currently to the office of the governor, pending the take-of of the centres.

He gave an assurance that such information would be treated with utmost confidentiality.

The council, according to the commission, asked the Federal Government to urgently speed up the implementation of recent agreement reached between it and the state government on the need to deploy more policemen, arms and ammunition, equipment and other logistic support for the police to the state.

The council also promised to establish and strengthen an integrated community-based vigilante group to complement the efforts.

According to the council, members of the vigilante group, which may include members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), will be properly screened before being enlisted into the group.

It commended the newly established joint border security patrol, which is designed to checkmate cross border raids, but asked the Federal Government to intensify such patrol arrangement.

The council regretted the killing of the three mobile policemen, one of whom was an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), and pledged the state government’s determination to take up the welfare of families of the slain men, including their burial expenses.

It appealed to members of the public to use the present RRS telephone numbers to reach the police in times of distress in the hands of armed robbers.

A member of the council and commander of 19th Battalion, Ikeja Military cantonment, Brigadier-General G.K.S. Emdin, denied reports that military weapons used by armed robbers were of the Nigerian Army stock.

According to him, such weapons are of the French stock, popularly used by Gendarmes in French West African countries

A gang of armed robbers had yesterday morning gone on the rampage in Lagos metropolis, killing three police officers and two motorists.

One of the bandits was later lynched by a mob that assisted the police in chasing them away.

Informed police sources said the incident which shook the police authorities took place at about 5.00 a.m at Ojo/Alaba International market area of Lagos.

According to sources, the police that a gang of 50-armed robbers was heading toward Alaba International Market from Ijanikin received a distress call. It was gathered that the bandits who were all dressed in military uniform were robbing people on their way and shooting indiscriminately as they approached Alaba International Market.

Sources said that when the robbers who were armed with sophisticated weapons reached Iyana-Iba junction they sighted a team of police patrol men led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) James Odeh in their Rapid Response Squad vehicles—a Toyota Hilux patrol vehicle with registration number FH 525 KJA.

The robbers were said to have ambushed the police officers and sprayed their vehicle with bullets. The ASP and two other sergeants attached to Mobile Police units 20 were killed instantly.

The robbers reportedly continued their onslaught by killing the driver of a commercial bus coming from Iba Housing Estate. Another private motorist whose identity was not known was also shot dead by the robbers.

However, a group of area boys and some students of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo who tried to check the robber’s advances succeeded in rounding up one of them. The lynched him on the spot. The other bandits reportedly ran into the Ojo Military Cantonment after they noticed that battle—ready policemen had cordoned-off their escape route.

In another development yesterday a gang of armed robbers numbering about 12 operating in two unregistered commercial vehicles went on the rampage attacking different filling stations in Lagos and carried away huge sums of money in the process.

The affected filling stations were Total Filling Station at Ojota, Texaco at Palmgrove and one National Filling Station along the same route.

In the name of religion the North killed moral instructions in the schools, and collected the schools from the actual owers the church. This is the product of the school generation. And I pray that all whose hands were in that policy will have their pay now.

Biafrans:
Let's look for countries where we can have our embassies, and liason offices. So our people will start using our passports.

We are not part of a rotten federation (The fraud called Nigeria).

What do all these groups of Nigerians have in common? The Igbo/Biafra curse.
This great and irredeemable curse brought about the upsurge of violent crimes, from Nigerians in high places to those in the lowest trenches of Nigerian society.
The chicken have surely come home to roost against Nigeria.

Robbers kill 500... Nigeria / Benin Police to begin joint patrol
The Vanguard
(Sunday, 8th July, 2001)
By Leon Usigbe, Kaduna

No fewer than five hundred persons including police officers in active service have been despatched to their untimely graves in the last six months in the new offensive launched by armed bandits operating in several parts of the country.

The recent upsurge in armed robbery has left about 84 policemen dead in less than ten months, with an average of eight killed in one month, Sunday Vanguard can reveal.

"In the past 10 months, 84 policemen were killed in active service, fighting crime", said Haz Iwendi, Force spokesman.

Police sources hinted that in Lagos and its environs alone, Police have lost 14 of their own to robbers terrorising almost every part of the state, whereas 41 civilians were felled by the hoodlums' bullets.

Only last week Wednesday, the robbers killed three policemen in one fell swoop at Iyaniba, near Ojo LGA along the Badagry Expressway, Lagos. On the whole, five persons lost their lives during the early morning operation that lasted for several hours.

A further break down of he casualty rate shows that in May, thirty two victims were recorded. Reports show that on May 4, robbers operated at Ore in Ondo State and killed ten persons. Of this number, five persons were killed on one street alone. In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on May 3, Thursday, two mobile policemen attached to the 21 Police Mobile Force Unit in the FCT were killed by armed robbers. According to the Police "The two policemen, Corporal Madu Adikiri and Constable Ibrahim Adamu along with a civilian guard, were on duty at the company premises when about 20 armed robbers stormed the warehouse of the construction firm at 2.30 a.m. disarmed them and killed them.

And on May 9, nine persons were killed by armed robbers who invaded Ughelli and its environs in Delta State. The victims included a traditional ruler, the Olukun of Oyede Kingdom, Chief Macaulay Olika and One Atima, a staff of Chevron. In Lagos, the rampaging bandits killed five persons, among them, a police sergeant. The sergeant identified as Cornelius Asuquo, attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Alagbon Lagos. Also in Lagos, two police officers were killed on May 27, by armed robbers who intercepted an Eastern bound luxury bus at the five-star bus stop, along the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway. The deceased were identified as Sergeant Magnus Amefule and corporal Gilbert Uru. They were escort guards to the bus.

On July 3, the robbers stormed the MACROD Community Bank at Ughelli and killed the Manager, cashier and two policemen.

But the embattled Nigerian police have assured Nigerians about their efforts to arrest the situation.

Police authorities in Lagos at the weekend said they had concluded arrangements between them and their Benin Republic counterparts for a joint patrol of the state following the exacerbating wave of trans-border armed banditry.

Informed police sources told Sunday Vanguard that the agreement for the joint patrol of Lagos came on the heels of reports that most of the armed robberies committed in the state had been traced to the neighbouring Benin Republic.

According to sources, the joint patrol of Lagos by police of both countries which is expected to flag off in August, 2001, followed emergency meeting between Police chiefs of both countries Wednesday after a robbery suspect confessed that all incidence of robbery and car-snatching were the handiwork of robbers from the Republic of Benin.

It was further gathered that the joint patrol of both countries will receive the blessing of all the necessary communication gadgets for effective monitoring of movements of armed robbers within the borders.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations (CDP Ops) Mr. Emmanuel Adebayo, who confirmed the arrangement told Sunday Vanguard that the measure was to put an end to the menace of trans-border armed robbery.

Said he: "I think before August, the arrangement of joint patrol of Lagos between our policemen and police from neighbouring Benin Republic will commence.

"And I can assure you that it will enjoy all the necessary communication equipment so that immediately there is any information of armed robbery in Nigeria, it will immediate communicate them and vice-versa".

Recently, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith visited the president of Benin Republic, Mr. Kerekou to discuss and find ways of putting a stop to the scourge of trans-border armed banditry.

Thursday July 12 2:26 PM ET
In Nigeria, Robbers Give Notice
By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Bolanle Ijikelly wasn't too surprised when armed robbers broke through the wall of her apartment with a sledgehammer one night last month and started carting away her valuables.

The week before, they'd sent her entire apartment block a note to let everyone know they'd be stopping by.

In Lagos, thieves are so sure of getting away with crimes they hand-deliver notices alerting intended targets they're coming - so even the poorest victims will have some cash on hand to steal.

The rationale is simple: Those with no money and nothing worth stealing are often beaten - or shot.

In a city where police were cleared last month to shoot suspected criminals on sight, everyone's got a crime story to tell.

The anonymous message penned on a sheet of paper and pasted to the wall of Ijikelly's rundown apartment block was blunt:

``We are coming to Block 31 to rob each flat and no flat will be exempted.''

Many tenants fled. Others stayed home during the day but slept elsewhere after dark.

Some, like Ijikelly, were so resigned to their fate they chose to stay and wait.

``I knew they were coming, so I prepared an envelope with 650 naira ($5) in it to give them,'' the 47-year-old teacher said.

Ijikelly and her five children woke to the sound of gunfire, got dressed and soon met eight armed men who crawled through the hole they knocked in her wall.

Two hours, 13 ransacked apartments - and no arrests - later, officers finally chased off the robbers.

That the police came at all was remarkable.

In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, only 12,000 officers are deployed to protect a population of 13 million.

Few residents expect much help. The poorly paid police force is best known not for foiling crimes, but for extorting bribes from drivers at checkpoints around town.

Left on their own, many residents barricade neighborhood streets with gates and lock themselves up inside houses with barred windows.

Few have telephones at home to call for help.

When the sun goes down, many parts of the city are plunged into darkness because electricity is so scarce.

Moving around at night can be eerie - and dangerous.

``I try to get home as early as possible. Nowhere is really safe,'' said Akin Ajose-Adeogun, a 42-year-old civil servant.

``We usually hear gunshots every night somewhere in the distance. It's like we're under siege.''

Robbers frequently operate in groups of 50 or more, hitting not just single houses but entire streets.

Sometimes they stuff nails into shoes or oranges and toss them onto bridges to blow out the tires of passing cars. Bands of thieves then converge on the car and rob the occupants.

Shootouts with police are common.

Gruesome crime stories make headlines in local newspapers every day and robbers have become infamous for acts of brutality.

Actress Patience Oseni, 37, said a gang of thieves who lost one of their men during a robbery last month in the Bariga neighborhood returned a few days later - and gunned down two dozen residents in revenge.

Lawyer Femi Odutola said one group even attacked a police station this month in another act of revenge, killing two officers.

But the violence goes both ways.

Oseni said she saw police kill five suspected robbers as she was going to church one Sunday in June.

``They didn't ask too many questions. They just took them out on the street in front of the station and blew their heads off,'' Oseni said.

``It's jungle justice.''

Some civilians, tired of all the crime, have shown little sympathy for thieves.

Odutola saw one man caught July 5 trying to steal a car from the parking lot of the Lagos High Court.

A mob threw an old tire around his neck, doused him with gasoline and set him on fire.

``These things happen often,'' Odutola said, holding a photo he took of the scene showing a charred corpse.

``But the fact that they burnt him to death right in front of the High Court shows how little faith people have in the criminal justice system.''

Since January, 183 robbers, 41 civilians and 14 police officers have been killed in Lagos, according to police statistics reported by the independent Guardian newspaper. Figures for the previous year put the death toll at more than 700.

Some residents would like to leave the city altogether. But not everybody's got a choice.

Robbers Raid - N1.6 Million Snatched, Policeman Shot Dead

P.M. News (Lagos)

July 18, 2001
Posted to the web July 18, 2001

Gabriel Orok
Lagos

Despite the renewed onslaught by the police against armed robbers in Lagos, the men of the underworld have not relented in their dastardly operations as they struck yesterday night in Jibowu and this morning at Oworonshoki Junction in Kosofe Local Government.

P.M. News gathered this morning that armed bandits gained entrance into a TOTAL petrol station at Jibowu at about 8 p.m. last night on the pretence of buying fuel. However, within two minutes, the robbers had rounded up everybody at the petrol station at gun-point. The robbers, who came to the station in a Peugeot 505 car ransacked the filling station's vault and successfully carted away the day's proceedings which was put at about N1.6 million. The robbers did not leave without shooting two people.

The wounded persons were immediately rushed to a near-by hospital where they are reportedly still receiving treatment. The robbers' dastardly act was re-enacted early this morning when a police Corporal named Kunle, attached to an oil company, was shot dead by robbers at Oworonshoki. The robbers had successfully snatched a peugeot car from its owner.

P. M.News gathered that the police man met his untimely death when he was sighted in a bus near the scene of the robbery incident by the robbers who immediately shot him to death as he tried to escape. The police say they have begun investigations into the two robbery incidents, while no arrest has been made yet. The two incidents are coming on the heels of the recent robbery attack at the popular Alaba Market in which goods worth millions of naira were carted away by the men of the underworld.

Robbers kill businessman, five others in Lagos

By Dipo Kehinde and Bunmi Ogunmodede

For Lagos businessman Chief Bolatito Taiwo, it was planned to be a day of joy. His son Ayo had just got a first class in Geophysics at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

But Chief Taiwo, 65, who looked forward to last Saturday with great excitement, missed the graduation at the weekend as he was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

Lagos, Nigeria’s business and honeypot, had a bad weekend, with 11 residents killed by robbers.

Chief Taiwo who ran a petrol station on Ikorodu road, was one of the seven others, including three-year-old child, Olamide Martins, were left with gunshot wounds.

The shooting spree took place at Ketu, Onipanu and Mushin.

But the government moved to tackle the matter, with Governor Bola Tinubu holding talks with Police Inspector-General Musiliu Smith.

Taiwo owned the National Petrol Station, beside Union Home Savings, a finance house, at Onipanu bus-stop, opposite the Onipanu police station.

Taiwo was said to have been shot dead by "two small boys" on Friday outside his petrol station at about 6.30p.m.

A guard at the station, who tried to fight the bandits, was shot dead and a passerby who tried to escape from the rattle of gunfire was crushed to death by a Molue bus on the ever-busy Ikorodu Road.

Seven others were said to have been killed in Ikosi, Ketu on the outskirts of the city and a few minutes away from Alausa, the seat of the state government, in various operations.

According to eye- witness account, Taiwo was discussing with two of his children when the assailants walked up to him.

Thinking that what they wanted was money, Chief Taiwo was said to have quickly handed over the keys to his safe and his brand new jeep.

But the bandits were said to have flung the keys away. They grabbed Taiwo by his dress, pulled him down, wrapped his gown over his face and shot him in the head.

Policemen guarding the finance house beside the petrol station moved to challenge the gunmen but a private security guard was said to have locked everyone inside and went into hiding, when passersby who were running for cover stormed the premises.

The policemen fired shots in the air but that was not enough to stop the bandits who allegedly arrived at the petrol station on a commercial motorbike, killed their victim and escaped on a waiting get-away bus which was said to have been driven by a third suspect.

Angry sympathizers stoned policemen from the Onipanu Police Station who came to the scene after the killers had escaped.

Traders around the petrol station stayed away from their stalls to sympathize with Taiwo’s two wives, children and other members of his family, in their home on Taiwo Close, Alausa, Ikeja.

As family members were busy making phone calls to some of Taiwo’s children overseas, three of Taiwo’s children who are undergraduates in a polytechnic and a university in Abeokuta arrived at their home, having stayed for the graduation of Tayo, expecting their father who never made it.

They came smiling, but soon sank into agony as they walked into a house that was blanketed with grief.

Pero, the girl among them, slumped and let out a howl of agony. Her two brothers were too shocked for words and one of them just pulled off his shirt and began to walk dreamily down the road.

Sympathizers dashed out to hold the grieving children.

Many of the sympathizers described Chief Taiwo who hailed from Ipara Remo, as an easy-going, God-fearing man who cherished education.

He was said to have been a National Oil petrol dealer for 40 years.

House number 126, Aladelola Street, Ikosi-Ketu, where 18-year-old Avemaris Moses was shot dead by marauding bandits is also grieving yesterday. In the same house, three-year-old Olamide Martins was shot. The bandits allegedly stole N1000 from the house.

Commissioner of Police Mr. Mike Okiro told The Comet yesterday that his men killed five members of the robbery gang that stormed Ketu on Friday.

He said two pump action rifles and a Barreta pistol were found on the robbers.

On Friday, a wake-keeping service was held, at Block 4, Falomo Police Barracks, for policeman Raphael Odey, one of the three members of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) who were shot dead in an encounter with armed robbers who had raided the Alaba International market.

A requiem mass will be held at 8.a.m. today for Odey at the Catholic Church of Assumption, Falomo, in Ikoyi.

There was also a solemn gathering for the slain Director of Intercellular Nig. Plc, Alhaja Aishat Ebiti at the premises of Crescent Nursery and Primary School, outside the 1004 Flats on Victoria Island.

Aishat’s husband, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti who could not hold back tears gave a copy of the Holy Koran and prayer book to each of the sympathizers.

Trying to put a balm on the apparently wounded hearts of the teeming sympathizers at the service, a Muslim scholar, Alhaji Zhkrullahi Hassan, said: "We and the criminals are victims of a bad system.

"There’s nobody who lives in Lagos today who does not live in fear. The bad leaders who caused all these problems have sent their children to schools abroad after they have damaged the system here."

Alhaji Hassan reminded Muslims that "no soul lives and no soul dies except by the permission of Allah who has decreed it," adding that "it’s not how long you live that matters, but how many faces you are able to put smiles on."

The late Aishat was killed by armed robbers, on June 10, in her home at Ajah on the outskirts of Lagos.

The government seems not to be taking the matter lying low.

A collaborative effort that will keep at bay criminal activities and robbery from Lagos is underway.

Lagos helmsman Governor Bola Tinubu dropped the hint at the weekend after he held a closed-door meeting with Inspector-General Smith at the State House, Marina.

The governor was optimistic that the war against crime would be won, but he did not give details of how the battle upsurge in robbery would be tackled.

Tinubu simply described Smith’s visit as "a morale booster and very reassuring," praising the Inspector-General for supporting the crusade against crime.

He said the Inspector-General of Police had always been very supportive, in terms of firepower and recruitment for more men. "He has always pledged his readiness to support us. What is necessary is collaboration between the State and the Federal Government as well as the private corporate bodies."

According to Tinubu, the recent stepping up of the war against armed robbery has been yielding the desired result.

His words: "Although, the matter of security demands a holistic approach, our recent renewed war against armed robbery has been paying off as we have been witnessing that it (armed robbery) has been going down."

Tinubu said: "This would not have been possible without the much needed cooperation and support of the Inspector-General and his commissioner."

Of his dream for a crime-free Lagos State, the Governor said: "I am not fully satisfied with the success achieved so far and won’t be until we have a tolerate crime level in the state. But we will continue to wage the war against armed robbery."

Smith, who was accompanied by the Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West, Commodore Olabode George (rtd), also spoke of the level of support he was giving to the state to combat crime.

He said: "I have been giving him (Tinubu) my maximum support. Being somebody from the state, if anything is happening here that is very unpalatable, I would not be happy. So, I want to assure you all that I am giving him my support.

"I have also been deploying a lot of vehicles for the security of the state. Not only that, I am also modernizing the communication network. In addition to that, I have continued to deploy additional personnel to beef up the strength of policemen in the state so that we can have enough hands on the ground".

Reacting to Tinubu’s call to strengthen the Air Wing Unit of the Police, Smith said: "My two serviceable helicopters (in Lagos). And I have given them the instruction that anytime it is necessary to support the police command in the state, they should just move."

Smith said efforts were being made to reactivate some broken down helicopters to strengthen the two.

The Guardian
Monday, July 23, 2001
Tinubu, Smith meet over security in Lagos

By Lekan Sanni

SUCCOUR may be in the offing for residents of Lagos traumatised in recent weeks by violent armed robbery cases as the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith, said at the weekend that more vehicles and police personnel have been drafted to the state to boost security.

Smith held a meeting with Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Government House, Marina, as part of on-going concerted efforts to checkmate the rising armed banditry in the state.

At the end of the meeting, the Inspector-General said that everything was being done to make Lagos a safe haven.

He said: "I have been giving him (Tinubu) my maximum support. Being somebody from the state, if anything is happening here that is very unpalatable, I would not be happy. So, I want to assure you all that I am giving him my support.

"I have also been donating a lot of vehicles for the security of the state. Not only that, I am also modernising the communication network.

"In addition to that, I have continued to pour in additional personnel to beef up the strength of policemen in the state so that we can have enough hands on the ground."

Smith noted that the Air Wing of the police has also been revived to join the crime patrol efforts, especially as it concerns cross-border robbery.

According to him, the Air Wing already has two helicopters while efforts are being made to put others on the ground in good condition.

"I have given my two serviceable helicopters (in Lagos) the instruction that anytime it is necessary to support the police command in the state, they should just move," he said.

Tinubu described the visit as morale-boosting and very re-assuring.

The governor confirmed that the Inspector-General has always been supporting the state government in the areas of fire, power and posting of more men.

"What is necessary is a collaboration between the state and the Federal Government as well as the private corporate bodies," he added.

His words: "Although, matters of security demand a holistic approach, our recent renewed war against armed robbery has been paying off as we have been witnessing that it has been going down."

However, Tinubu stressed the need to address the causes of armed robbery at the national level by tackling the high unemployment rate, rural-urban drift and the telecommunications problems facing the police.

Even though I hate criminals I would not mind congratulating them if they are going after all those rich criminals who stole from us. Tinubu, Maduekwe, Obasanjo, IBB, Danjuma, Bola Ige, etc all have enough money to satisfy those bandits.