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Sanwo-Olu Personally Arrests Matchete-Wielding Traffic Criminals in Ojota
The war against criminality in Lagos State has gone a notch higher as the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, personally arrested a gang of suspected criminals, which specialises in harassing motorists and road users in traffic.
The gang of suspected criminals met their waterloo Monday morning while attempting to unleash terror on a motorist around Ojota in-bound Alausa. Help however came for the motorist as Governor Sanwo-Olu’s convoy approached the scene to rescue him from the three machete-wielding criminals who were at the time, trying to forcefully drag him out of his vehicle.
The security personnel attached to the Governor swooped on the suspects, retrieved the dangerous weapons from them and arrested the three of them.
It would be recalled that Governor Sanwo-Olu while handing over security equipment purchased by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, for the use of Lagos Police Command, on Thursday June 10, said there would be no hiding place for criminals in the State.
“We are determined to stabilize the security situation in Lagos State, as our own contribution towards lasting national security. Let me also use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to all criminals who are operating in Lagos State or planning to operate here; all armed robbers, kidnappers, cultists, bandits, and other criminals, we will leave no stone unturned in making this State inhospitable to you. We will find you, wherever you may be lurking and we will bring the full weight of the law on you,” Governor Sanwo-Olu declared.
The brand new crime-fighting equipment donated to the Lagos State Police Command were; 150 Double Cabin Vehicles, 30 Saloon Patrol Vehicles, 1,000 Ballistic Vests; 1,000 Ballistic Helmets, 1,000 Handheld Police Radios/Walkie-Talkies, 100 Security Patrol Bikes; two Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), four High Capacity Troop Carriers and two Anti-Riot Water Cannon Vehicles.
Governor Sanwo-Olu stated after his security personnel arrested the three machete-wielding criminals that the exercise was a warning signal to other criminal elements and prospective traffic robbers in Lagos that there is no hiding place for criminality in Lagos State.
Also on Monday, the Strike Squad of the Lagos State Taskforce carried out a massive raid on motorcycle (okada) riders at Second rainbow and Toyota Bus Stop along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
During the raid, which lasted for some hours, a total of 105 motorcycles were impounded. Prior to Monday’s raid, a total of 201 motorcycles were impounded last week.
The Rivers State House of Assembly has asked Governor Siminalayi Fubara to forward the list of commissioner-nominees to the House for consideration.
The lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, made the call when they resumed sitting on Thursday, less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu ended the emergency rule in the State.
However, on the Order Paper for the day, there is only one item, which was a Motion to Set Legislative Agenda for the Remainder of the Year for the 10th Assembly.
Although Governor Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, were expected to take over the leadership of the state today, six months after President Bola Tinubu imposed emergency rule on the state, they had yet to arrive at the Government House in Port Harcourt as of 4:50 pm on Thursday.
An excited crowd of supporters gathered at the Government House waiting to welcome the governor and his deputy in the early hour of the day.
Officials from the state emergency services were also on the ground.
Fubara and his deputy had been away from the governance of the state for six months, after President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing a political crisis.
Tinubu had also suspended the governor, his deputy, and the House of Assembly members.
The state of emergency ended on Wednesday.
The former administrator, retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, who handed over the reins of power on Wednesday night, urged political actors in the state to embrace mutual respect and dialogue in a State broadcast.
Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has warned the Nigerian military and other security agencies not to provoke bandits and terrorists groups following a wave of peace deals brokered between the criminal groups and communities in Katsina State.
The Kaduna-based cleric who made the call in a message he shared on his official Facebook page Monday, called on security operatives to respect the peace deals struck between terrorists and residents of Faskari Local Government Area of the state and cautioned against getting the terrorists angry to the extent of abandoning the process and going back to their reign of terror.
The much talked about peace meetings between the bandits and the people of the Faskari communities took place on Sunday between local traditional leaders, residents, and a wanted bandit kingpin, Ado Alero, alongside hundreds of armed herders.
Also present was a notorious bandit leader, Kwashé Garwa, who was recently declared wanted by the DSS following a wave of kidnapping and killings attributed to him.
A video of the meeting which circulated on social media showed the bandits carrying heavy arms and ammunition and openly engaging in dialogue with the community leaders.
During the meeting, Aleru admitted that past hostilities with security operatives worsened after one of his followers was arrested without explanation despite appeals to local and state authorities.
He explained that they were united by pressing issues, including killings, kidnappings, and property destruction.
Aleru further described the latest peace initiative as unprecedented, saying:
“Since we started having peace meetings, people have never gathered in such large numbers like this. This meeting gives me hope that, Insha Allah, peace will be restored—not only in Faskari and Katsina State but across the entire country.
“What brought about this meeting is that one of my boys was arrested. At that time, we were not on good terms with the security operatives. I asked why they arrested him, but they did not give me any explanation,” he had said
In the Facebook post, Gumi warned that any attempt to attack the armed groups could reignite violence in the state and truncate the fragile peace that the deals have brought about.
“Some people who don’t want peace, will provoke them again by attacking them. It’s very important to educate them that they are used by capitalising on their ignorance and zeal to vengeance,” Gumi wrote.
“In Nigeria, whenever there is a discussion, they call Fulani herders bandits and terrorists. But tell me, which tribe in the world does not have criminals among them? You Hausas, who say we are bandits, don’t you also have bandits among you?
“There are many, in fact dozens upon dozens. Yet, no one stereotypes you with such a name, but they stereotype us as bandits. If this stereotyping does not stop, then the killings and kidnappings will also not stop.
“Until justice is served to everyone, the President should allow justice to take its course, and at the state level, leaders should also do the needful,” he said.
“My second question is: why do they publicize only what we do to the world, but never publicize what is done to us?”
“There will be no peace if security agencies do not also stop killing our people,” he added.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a criminal charge against a politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, for allegedly making a false claim against the person of the President, Bola Tinubu, by referring to him as a criminal.
The five-count charge was filed on Tuesday before the Federal High Court in Abuja, a few days after an earlier request by the DSS on Facebook and X, the platforms allegedly deployed by Sowore for his said false claim, to pull the misleading message down.
The charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, Mata (Facebook) Incorp, and X Incorp are listed with Sowore as defendants.
Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2019 and 2023, and publisher of Sahara Reporters, is in charge and accused of contravening the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
Reports said his arraignment on the charge is scheduled for any time soon.
Counts in the charge read: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male on or about the 25th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your official X handle page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message/tweet as: ‘
“THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT TO BRAZIL TO STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY!,” which you know the said message to be false but posted it for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among individuals, who hold divergent views on the personality of the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult male on or about the 26th day of August, 2025 did use your official Facebook page, Omoyele Sowore, to send out a message/post as: “THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT TO BRAZIL TO STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY!,” which you know the said message/post to be false, but posted it for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among individuals who hold divergent views on the personality of the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, mate on or about the 25th day of August, 2025 using the instrumentality of X, via your official X account @Yele Sowore, did knowingly published defamatory material on your online platform viz: “THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT TO BRAZIL TO STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY!” against the personality and reputation of the President and Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act.
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male on or about the 26th day of August, 2025 using the instrumentality of Facebook, via your official Facebook account Omoyele Sowore, did knowingly published defamatory material on your online platform viz: “THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT TO BRAZIL TO STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY!,” against the personality and reputation of the President and Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act.
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male on or about the 26th day of August, 2025, with intent to cause public fear and disturbance, published false information on your official X and Facebook account @Yele Sowore, respectively, against the personality and reputation of the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Anmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 59 of the Criminal Code Act and punishable under the same Act.
