According to a report by Punch Metro, a suspected traffic robber has allegedly swallowed his victim’s wedding ring after threatening to kill her in the Oshodi area of Lagos State.
The suspect, 19-year-old Taofeek Adebayo, was on Friday arrested by the men of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command at OshodiOke together with his accomplice, Toheeb Tijani, 20, shortly after dispossessing two ladies in a grey Sienna SUV of a gold earring and a set of wedding rings.
Two other suspected traffic robbers, Samson Oluwa, 20, and Michael Amodu Adamu, 22, were also arrested in an all-night sting operation in the CMS area of the state.
According to the RRS, Adebayo and his gang members had pleaded with the two gorgeously dressed ladies in the Sienna SUV to assist them with money for food.
The ladies were said to have offered them N100 note, which the suspects rejected.
The driver of the Sienna SUV, who pleaded anonymity, was quoted as saying, “My colleague and I were coming from Anthony and heading to Ilasa for our association’s meeting. Three of the hoodlums came near our vehicle. There was traffic and we could not turn anywhere. We were scared. They said we should give them money for food. I reached out to my colleague to give me money.
“She gave me N100, which I gave them. They rejected it. One of them said, ‘eleyi ki i se owo ti wa’ (this is not our due). I told them that that was what I had. One of them pulled my left ear and removed my earring.
“Two of them turned to the other side of the vehicle. They threatened to waste us if we didn’t give them money. ‘Where is the money?’ they screamed at us. In a hurry to leave our car, they forced my friend to surrender her wedding rings.
“This fair-complexioned guy (Adebayo) took the first ring and swallowed it in our presence. His colleague took the other one.”
When interrogated, Adebayo confessed, “I swallowed it but I have vomited it and handed it over to Young Boy, who is the third guy, when the police were chasing us. I told him to hand over the rings to the ladies so that the police could release us but he absconded with the two rings and the earring.”
Tijani, who was said to be on the watch list of the police for snatching a mobile phone from a commuter in traffic earlier in the day, stated, “I have released the phone to the LASTMA officials standing in Oshodi Oke. They told me that RRS officers were looking for me to arrest me.”
The two other suspected traffic robbers, Oluwa and Adamu, were arrested around midnight on Friday when they were allegedly robbing a stranded motorist around the CMS.
Commenting on the development, the Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, stated that the command would not relent in its efforts to make Lagos safe for law-abiding citizens.
He directed that the suspects be transferred to the Makinde Police Division, Oshodi, and the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, for further investigation