The Lagos State Police Command has vowed to intensify patrols and enforcement efforts in a bid to rid the state of all forms of crime and criminality.

 The police made the pledge in response to growing complaints over the menace of armed robbers and petty thieves who harass and attack innocent citizens at several bus stops along the Ketu–Mile 12 route and in other parts of the state.

Some of the robbery hotspots identified along the corridor include Costain, Mile 12 Underbridge, Ajelogo Road, BRT Station, Okoko, Anthony, Ojota, Ketu Tipper, Alapere, Ikosi, Ile Ile, Kosofe, Irawo, and Blue Roof along Ikorodu Road, among others.

A trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity at Ketu Junction on Thursday, said the hoodlums often struck around 8pm from the Abiola Garden.

“It is true that petty theft, like phone-snatching, happens here, especially at night as people rush to board buses home. The thieves will pretend as if they want to board the bus and remove phones from people’s pockets. They operate like that right from Abiola Garden down to Mile 12. They start operating from 8pm. Some cases happened last week,” she said.

Corroborating this, a POS operator near the pedestrian bridge at Ketu Junction, who also craved anonymity, said she witnessed two robbery incidents last week.

“One of the ones I saw happened early last week when a lady cried to my table, saying they had just snatched her phone and I should help her make some calls. Four days later, some women also rushed down from the other side of the road, telling me they had snatched their phones and asking whether I knew how to block a Palmpay account,” the lady stated.

She explained that most times, when residents report such incidents to the police, officers request witnesses, which are often difficult to produce.

Two pepper sellers at Mile 12 Underbridge also confirmed that the robberies usually happen at night, though they noted a slight drop of recent.

“In the past, you dared not hold your phone like this, even in broad daylight. But in the last few weeks, we thank God that things have improved, though those boys still come out at night,” one of them told our correspondent.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police had noted the complaints and deployed more officers in the identified area.

“We are taking people’s complaints into cognisance. We do use them to review our deployment and strategies, and we have done the needful. There is adequate enforcement on the road, and patrol vehicles are also stationed there, and this has yielded positive results,” Hundeyin said.

Meanwhile, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) last Saturday, an activist, Lola Okunrin, recounted how his friend became a victim of armed robbery around the Mile 12 bridge in Lagos.

In the post, the activist said the incident occurred around 10pm.

“This is a call to action. Please save us. Please come to our aid. The robberies between Ketu and Mile 12, down to Blue Roof along Ikorodu Road, are too much. I have witnessed it several times, and this happened to my friend two nights ago,” he posted.

Several netizens also shared recent robbery experiences along the Lagos routes.

Responding, Hundeyin said the police were firmly in control of the area and committed to ensuring the safety and security of residents and visitors to the state.

He said, “We have arrested many individuals (and this continues), prosecuted numerous offenders, and secured indictments and convictions. Unfortunately, new sets of miscreants emerge every day. Many are individuals grappling with unemployment and substance abuse, which complicates the challenge we face.”