Juliana Francis
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a total of 119 suspects since the inauguration of ‘Operation Flush’ in the metropolis.
It will be recalled that days after the launching of ‘Operation Flush,’ which entailed the raiding of blackspots in Lagos State, the police arrested about 80 suspects, and recovered drugs and firearms.
Again, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, on the 4th of August 2023, announced another set of 37 suspects were arrested.
According to the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, the first set of 80 had been charged to court.
Speaking of ‘Operation Flush,’ Owohunwa said: “The operation was launched to tackle pockets of crime that were resurfacing in parts of Lagos State.
“Beyond that, the operation is also to support existing frameworks for battling violent crimes like robbery and cultism amongst other vices. We are proud to update Lagosians on the achievements the new operation achieved.”
According to the CP, the suspects were engaged in varying crimes including murder, armed robbery, stealing, cultism, and vandalism.
He stated that from all these cases which, “we successfully cracked, we recovered a total of six arms, 26 live ammunition, two expended ammunition, one battle axe, four vehicles, hard drugs, counterfeit currencies, wrist watches, phones, knife, aluminum rails, among others.”
He added that on the 2nd of August 2023, at about 9:30 PM, a joint operation was carried out by operatives of Isheri Division and Area H command to raid drug joints at Isheri North.
He stated that at least five suspects were arrested, while several recoveries were made which include wraps of substance suspected to be Indian hemp, and other illicit drugs such as codeine, Colorado, and loud, among others.
He said that most of the suspects had no fixed addresses, but were discovered to be threats to the communities they were arrested. He said that the suspects will soon be charged in court.
Similarly on 2nd August 2023 at about 8:30 PM, operatives of the Lagos State Command stormed Iganmu under the bridge that criminals use as their hideout, robbing innocent commuters plying Iganmu overhead bridge.
During the operation, hideouts were identified, and destroyed, substance suspected to be Indian hemp, white powder suspected to be cocaine, 12 pieces of security belts five pieces of lanyards, other illicit drugs, three knives, two cutlasses, six speakers of different vehicles, three reflective jackets, two protective bridge pipes, three Samsung torchlights, a toy pistol and some phone accessories suspected to have been snatched at gunpoint were recovered.
Owohunwa promised that the command will continue to do everything operationally possible to ensure that crime and criminality were brought to the barest minimum in Lagos.
