Juliana Francis
The Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos State, has arrested a suspect who used to attack Uber drivers with pepper to snatch their cars from them.
Police are working on the theory that the suspect, Olamide Tailor along with his partner in crime, Habeeb, who is presently at large, had been actively committing this crime for long until the Police Operatives from Zone 2 put paid to their shenanigans.
The Uber driver, identified as Mr Gbadamosi Adewale, who reported the matter to the Police said that he fell into their trap after they booked him to take them to Fela Shrine in Ikeja.
They would later spray his eyes with pepper, which made him rush out of the car, screaming for help, while they disappeared with his car.
The Zonal Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Command, a Superintendent of Police, Hauwa Idris-Adamu, while confirming the incident, said that it happened on the 22nd of July 2023 at about 12:50 am.
She explained that after the Police got the intel about the robbery, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in charge of Zone 2 Police Command, Mr. Muhammed Ali Ari, ordered that Policemen should immediately move to the scene of the robbery.
Preliminary investigation at the scene revealed that one of the suspects, Olamide Tailor and his friend Habeeb, along Fagba Abule-Egba Area of Lagos State, booked a Corolla Saloon car, Ash in colour driven by an Uber driver, Mr. Gbadamosi Adewale. The suspect told the driver to drop them at Fela’s shrine, Ikeja.
Idris-Adamu said: “ While on their way, the passengers ordered the driver to turn back to where he picked them from, under the pretence that Habeeb had forgotten his phone at the hotel, and the Uber driver obliged.
“When the Uber driver stopped at the point he picked them up, Habeeb who is now at large came out of the car pretending to be on a call and later returned to the car and sat behind the driver, at this time he had the pepper in his hand.
“He subsequently sprayed the pepper into the Uber driver’s eyes, which forced the driver to jump out of the car shouting. Olamide Tailor took over the car and drove away.
“On receipt of the information, AIG Ari Mohammed Ali swung into action, detailed a team of detectives from the Monitoring Unit who immediately tracked the said car and arrested one of the suspects, who is currently giving useful information on the matter.
“In the interim, the investigation is ongoing, the arrested suspect will be arraigned in the court on conclusion of our investigation. In the light of the foregoing, members of the public particularly commercial drivers have been advised to always monitor the antics of their passengers with sinister intentions.”
