The Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit deployed to Lagos and the Ogun States have arrested five Court officials for parading themselves as officers of Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Agency popularly called ‘Taskforce’ and allegedly extorting motorists and residents over the use of facemasks in the state.
Among the five court officials, who were led by one Henry Akintanmi popularly called ‘Spider’ and deployed to Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile) Court, includes three policemen that were primarily assigned to ensure the safety of lives and property of the five mobile courts and magistrates in the state.
Before the IGP special team led by the former Police Public Relation Officer in Lagos, CSP Ngozi Braide, arrested the Lagos Mobile Court officials yesterday, it was gathered that the State Government had been inundated with complaints of extortions on Lagos roads by the officials who were said to have allegedly established an illegal Taskforce unit under the Lagos Mobile Court to extort residents in the state.
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It was gathered that the officials often embarked on enforcement of traffic law before President Muhammadu Buhari imposed the lockdown on Lagos to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The suspects allegedly arrested several motorists and commercial motorcycle operators popularly called Okada riders and tricycle operators who they extort.
It was further gathered that the officials, in order to ensure the operations achieve the targeted aim, adopted Taskforce enforcement style and painted their vehicles with a bold inscription of Taskforce on it and move in convoy to arrest and extort motorists that were not familiar with Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Agency (Task Force).
Though the operation had been ongoing without the State Government being able to track the perpetrators in spite of complaints from residents, Akintanmi, a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) former officer, and his gang, earlier in the week, stormed Lagos roads and apprehended residents for moving within the state without using a facemask.
It was learned that Akintanmi and four others hide under the pronouncement by the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that the use of facemasks would be enforced in the state.
Ms. Clara, one of the victims extorted for not using a facemask, gave intelligence to the IGP monitoring team, claiming that the officials who extorted her were from the Lagos Taskforce office and appealed for an investigation.
It was gathered that after Clara’s complaint, the decoy law enforcement officers accompanied her to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Agency (Taskforce) headquarters in Oshodi to identify the perpetrators.
On arrival, the Chairman of Lagos Taskforce, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, denied the involvement of his officers and disclosed that since the advent of the dreaded hoodlums, ‘One Million Boys’, his personnel had been deployed to different locations to prevent any possible attack on residents.
Egbeyemi said:
“We have been manning the entry points of the state during this lockdown. We have not been engaging in any enforcement in Lagos state. And some of the places you can find my men now are Agege, Ikorodu, Oshodi, Alakuko, Lekki-Ikoyi, and Berger end of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. I know that my officers were never involved in any enforcement.”
After leaving the Lagos Taskforce office, our correspondent learned that Clara and members of the IGP team discovered the vehicle that apprehended her within the premises of Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile) Court where the perpetrators were picked by the team.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bala Elkana, in chat, said that he was not aware of the arrest made by the Braide-led team in the state.
