Many bus stops in most cities in the country have become havens for
criminals and innocent citizens who use them have bitter tales to tell,
where they survive attacks.
Like most commercial cities, Lagos
has many dangerous bus stops even though checks revealed that few of
them have become relatively safe due to Governor Raji Fashola’s Green
Lagos campaign.
To help Lagos commuters and other pedestrians
stay off harm’s way, Sunday Sun has identified most of the notorious bus
stops that should be used with caution.
[b]Berger bus stop: Danger on long bridge Reputed
for its high criminal rate, investigation revealed that hoodlums
operate mainly at the Ojodu-Berger bridge, specifically at Kara, a point
after the bridge. According to a newspaper vendor who did not want his
name in print, the long bridge is extremely dangerous.
“Security
should be beefed up at the Berger Long Bridge because that is where the
whole crime in Berger axis is committed every day. Remember the case of
an Army General who was stabbed to death by suspected Fulani herdsmen
on the bridge while he tried to fix a flat tyre. There was also a recent
case of a young man who bought a new motorcycle and was conveying a
passenger from the Berger end of the bridge to the Ogun State end.
Somewhere in the middle of the bridge, the passenger attacked the rider
with a knife concealed in a black polythene bag and made away with the
motorcycle”, he narrated.
Also, a GSM recharge card vendor said:
“The activities of bad boys around the bridge have made life unbearable
for travellers daily, especially strangers. As for the Berger bus stop
itself, it is relatively safe. It is the activities of the boys on that
bridge that give people the impression that Berger bus stop is
dangerous. Government should do something urgently to beef up security
on that bridge and forestall further loss of innocent lives.”
Checks revealed that the victims of the roughnecks were mostly motorists whose vehicles broke down on the bridge.
Estate bus stop: Here there’s no night or day Bamboo
is a dangerous spot along Oworonsoki – Ibadan Expressway, about 100
metres from Alapere Housing Estate Bus stop. Investigation revealed that
criminals from the hideout always attack early morning commuters at the
Estate bus stop and escape to their base. Their modus operandi is to
mount roadblock at night between the bus stop and Oworonsoki and pose as
policemen on stop-and-search night operation. They would wave down
their target to a stop with a torchlight and reveal their true identity.
Checks showed that trekking from the bus stop to Oworonsoki, which is a
distance of about 300 metres in the afternoon is as dangerous as
attempting the same feat at night because for the hoodlums at Bamboo,
there is no difference between day and night as long as it is within
that black spot.
First Gate junction, Agidingbi: Hard core robbery point Anyone
going to Agidingbi in Ikeja from Berger will pass through a spot called
First Gate junction. This is not a bus stop per se, but it has become a
black spot where criminals attack people and dispossess them of their
valuables without help from the security agents. Armed robbers always
trail their targets to this point before they strike.
Painting a
gory picture of the junction, a middle-aged man who identified himself
as John, and who said he has been doing business at Berger for more than
six years, said: “What happens at that point is not petty robbery; it
is hard core robbery. I have witnessed about three incidents on
different days where the victims were dispossessed of their cars at the
same point. It is always between 7:30pm and 8pm when darkness sets in.
They prowl around the area waiting for their target. They operate with
sophisticated guns, not ordinary jackknives like the ones that snatch
handbags and all that. I don’t know their hideout but I believe it is
not far from the area. Government should mount serious security
surveillance at that point and try to find out their hideout.”
Boundary bus stop in Ajegunle: One million boys’ gang territory Investigation
has shown that new breeze of freedom has swept through the hitherto
notorious Boundary bus-stop following the recent clampdown by security
agents on the One million boys’ gang of robbers in the area. Before the
security agents came to the rescue, Boundary was a theatre of all manner
of criminal activities ranging from handbag and jewellery snatching to
sundry crimes. But with the revelation of the heinous activities of the
terror gang by Sunday Sun recently and the consequent onslaught by the
security agents, the hoodlums have disappeared from the vicinity and
Boundary bus stop is relatively free from the crimes it was hitherto
associated with. Investigations revealed that when the bad boys were on
top of the game, they would come in broad daylight and create
artificial confusion, and while people ran helter-skelter, they would
snatch phones, handbags, money, jewelleries and whatever valuable they
could lay hands on, and escape with their loot.
Ijora bus stop: One chance, gang molestation… The
name, Ijora sends jitters down the spines of most Lagosians due to the
kind of crimes committed there. Ijora bus stop is home to a potpourri
of criminal activities ranging from ‘one chance’ to gang molestation,
and they occur regularly. The boys usually hang around, smoking and
drinking alcohol. Late at night or in the wee hours of the morning,
their ugly business booms. Any unfortunate female who probably didn’t
know much about the place could be gang-Molested and dispossessed of her
valuables. But the story is a little different now because Governor
Babatunde Raji Fashola’s Tree Planting Campaign has just berthed there.
The place has been cleared of the bad boys and made difficult for evil
business.
Also, flowers have been planted in the spot and police
surveillance mounted at different points. Checks revealed that the
hoodlums have relocated to their base at Ijora Badia along the railway
from where they usually came to attack their targets. Thus, the heat has
shifted to the railways, at least for now.
Mile 2 Oke: Hammers, knives, guns used to rob motorists in traffic jam Another
notorious spot, it is greatly feared by Lagos residents. Before the
on-going construction of Lagos Light Rail Project, Mile 2 located under
the bridge on Badagry Expressway used to be the most dreaded point in
the area. But with the construction work ongoing, Mile 2 under bridge
has become a haven for the hoodlums who fled the zone due to exposure of
all the dark spots where they previously hibernated to carry out their
attacks.
Thus, all criminal activities in the area have shifted
to the popular Mile 2 Oke along Oshodi-Apapa Express way with innocent
Nigerians falling victims daily. The hoodlums also extend their trade
to as far as Otto Wharf, a bus-stop after Mile 2 Oke, targeting
Apapa-bound commuters.
They use hammer, knife or gun to
dispossess their victims of their valuables. Usually, they target men
and women in posh cars stuck in traffic jam. A source said: “The worst
aspect of it is that the occupants of the car in your front or the one
at your back may not know that you are being robbed. They are so adept
at the game that they would just raise their shirt for their victims to
have a glimpse of the weapon tucked in their trousers. Once you see a
gun, knife or hammer, you wouldn’t want to take chances; you would
surrender whatever they ask for.
Investigation also revealed
that most of the hoodlums would stand at the bus stop clutching black
polythene bags or copies of newspapers in their hands, pretending to be
passengers. They operate at any time but they are more noticeable in the
evening from 6pm.
It was revealed that late in the evening,
they station themselves at strategic locations and monitor their
targets. They could tell who is a stranger or stranded and trail them
until they get to a vantage position, where they snatch their targets’
handbags, phone, necklace, wristwatch or anything, and zoom off. The
victim would normally scream but because the criminals know the routes
so well they disappear without a trace.
Church bus stop: Hidden haven of urchins This
bus stop is small but mighty. It is located before Agboju on Mile 2 –
Badagry Expressway. There is a small bush on the right hand side of the
road to Badagry axis from Mile 2 where urchins hide. If you are a
stranger who does not know about their activities, once you alight from
the bus at night, they would jump out from the bush, rob you and
disappear into the night. The same thing happens to people who leave
home early in the morning for business. However, Church bus stop is so
notorious that only stubborn people fall victim to the armed thieves.
You hardly know there is a bus stop there because unlike other bus
stops, there are no petty businesses at Church bus stop.
Agric bus stop: Arms buried, exhumed for operations here Findings
have shown that Agric bus stop, located between Barracks and Volks bus
stops along Mile 2-Badagry Expressway is one of the most dangerous bus
stops in Lagos at present. It was gathered that criminal activities at
the bus stop take place only on the right side of the road as one goes
to Badagry from Mile 2 because it is always lonely. The criminals carry
out their dastardly acts any time of the day but it is more at night and
early in the morning. Sources revealed that the boys bury their arms
there and exhume them for their operations. It was gathered that once
there is a traffic gridlock at that point, they would rob motorists.
Checks revealed that the hoodlums created most of the potholes on that
portion of the expressway, to force drivers to slow down. It was also
gathered that they burrowed an opening on the wall of the Ojo Military
Cantonment through which they often escaped until it was blocked on the
orders of the military authorities.
It was also revealed that
the hoodlums sometimes, throw rims or tyres on the expressway to stop
oncoming vehicles. They would immediately close in on If the driver
stopped him but if he knows what is happening at the spot, he would do
everything possible to manoeuvre his way and escape to safety.
Findings
revealed that robberies at the spot abated during joint military patrol
of the area but with the withdrawal of soldiers from the team, the ugly
trend has resumed and with a new dimension. According to
investigation, the gangs attack people in broad daylight. Some the
people who spoke to Sunday Sun suspected that the robbers operate on
information particularly about those with huge sums of money.
“Just
about three weeks ago, a man was attacked at that spot but the man was
very huge and stoutly built; so he struggled with them and escaped to
this side with his bag that contained N4.5million. Just as people were
telling the man that he was lucky to have escaped with his money, the
robbers rode on their motorcycles from the Barracks bus stop and traced
the man to this other side of the bus stop. When they got here, they
shot into the air and people scampered for safety. In the process, they
shot two Hausa men but the man still resisted them as he held their long
gun. As he struggled with them, we made a distress call to the Ojo
Police who responded immediately and the hoodlums escaped without the
money. But the man was shot while struggling with them”, a source
stated.
There was also the tale of how eight of the hoodlums
rode on four motorcycles, and blocked a South-east-bound bus that was
fully loaded, at the bus stop.
“They searched the bus until they
saw the bag they were looking for and they left with it. That was an
indication that somebody somewhere told them about the bag and its
content. They took people’s phones and money in the process and this
happened around 9am,” the source said.
Abulosu bus stop: Drivers collude with roughnecks here This
is a bus stop immediately after the Trade Fair complex, under the
Bridge along Mile 2 Badagry – Expressway. The bad boys operate on the
same right side of the road to Badagry from Mile 2, just as they do at
Agric bus stop. The place is usually deserted in the evening because
people don’t live around there. So, as soon as darkness sets in and
early in the morning, they would unleash terror on commuters.
Investigations revealed that some transporters collude with the
roughnecks at Abulosu. A man who wouldn’t want his name in print
narrated his personal experience.
“That day, as we approached
Abule-Ado, the vehicle started behaving funny and the driver said he had
a flat tyre. We asked him to drive into the fuel station before the
bridge, to change the tyre and avoid keeping us stranded at the mercy of
the miscreants at Abulosu, but he insisted that the vehicle could take
us to Barracks where he would change the tyre. We did our best to
prevail on him to see reason with us but he ignored us. But as soon as
we got to Abulosu, the driver stopped and said he needed to change the
tyre. Immediately he stopped, about four rough boys emerged from the
bush and attacked us. We were lucky that the joint military patrol came
at that point to rescue us. They ran away but that was after they had
taken away most people’s handsets and money. That’s why I suspect that
some drivers work with them and that our driver could be one of their
informants.”
Cassidy bus stop: Students cultists incharge Cassidy
is a bus stop before Okokomaiko and also along Mile 2-Badagry
Expressway. Like most other bad bus tops, the hoodlums operate at night
and very early in the morning.
However, investigation revealed
that most of the hoodlums at the bus stop are student cultists of the
Eye confraternity. A source alleged that most of them are students from
the nearby institutions who carry out the evil acts whenever they run
out of cash.
Apongbon bus stop: Hotbed of one-chance buses Apongbon
is an ever-busy exit route from the Lagos Island with both heavy
vehicular and human traffic as from 3pm virtually every day. This is
because most businessmen and women and other workers on the Island
converge there to board vehicles to different areas on the mainland.
Apart
from pickpocket that is a regular feature at the bus stop especially in
the evening and at night, it is also a hotbed of ‘One chance’ bus
operators. Pretending to be real transporters, they would pick
unsuspecting passengers from the spot and rob them of their valuables
when they get to a lonely spot.
Leventis bus stop: Okada robbers once ruled Leventis
is the first bus stop as you enter the Lagos Island. There are criminal
elements that attack and dispossess people of their valuables early in
the morning at the bus stop.
A driver who would not want his
name in print said: “Victims of Leventis bus stop criminals always run
to Apongbon for safety when attacked in the early hours of the day and
that is why most people would say that Apongbon is bad. It is not
Apongbon; it is Leventis. They snatch people’s bags while atop
motorcycles but with the recent ban on Okada in the state, the incidence
of motorcycle-induced thefts around the bus stop have reduced
drastically. In fact, we no longer see that. It’s only the early morning
attackers that are having a swell moment.”
School bus stop: Small axes, jack knives weapons of choice Located
at School junction along Mba-Mile 2 road in Ajegunle, School bus stop
is very dangerous. Hoodlums always attack people at the bus stop at
night and early in the morning. They hang around the area during the day
smoking marijuana and drinking gin but at night, they resort to what
they know how best to do. They are always armed with small axe,
jackknife, and other deadly weapons, that they freely use on ‘stubborn’
victims.
Readers, do you agree? Have you had any of the
experience above? Are there anymore dangerous bus stops Lagosians should
know about. Give your feedback in the comments section below.
Source: Daily Sun
