LASTMA Apprehends Six, Recovers 77 Stoleb Phones, 2 POS Machines Other Items

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Thursday, 23rd of October, 2025 apprehended six suspected members of a notorious “one-chance” syndicate operating beneath the Ijora Bridge corridor of Lagos.

This is in a decisive and meticulously coordinated enforcement operation reflective of the Lagos State Government’s unflinching commitment to public safety, environmental restoration, and crime deterrence.

The arrest, effected during a joint inter-agency enforcement exercise targeted at dismantling illegal garages and parks operated by commercial transporters, as well as the removal of unauthorized shanties and criminal hideouts around Apapa Road, Costain, and Ijora under bridge, yielded substantial recoveries. Confiscated items included 77 assorted mobile phones, 2 POS machines, multiple wristwatches, and other personal effects believed to have been forcibly taken from unsuspecting commuters and pedestrians.

The operation, led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Honourable Sola Giwa, featured a strong coalition of enforcement operatives drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), and the Nigerian Army.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the Ijora under-bridge axis had long served as a criminal enclave, accommodating miscreants, illegal traders, and “one-chance” syndicates who specialize in orchestrated theft, violent assaults, and dispossession of innocent citizens. The area had also evolved into a clandestine storage hub for stolen valuables and contraband goods.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commended the professional synergy among all participating enforcement agencies, describing the exercise as a demonstration of inter-agency cooperation at its best.

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