Amid the hue and cry of the residents of Lagos State over the increasing spate of crime, especially gridlock robberies, the Police have increased their patrols on major roads to curb the menace.

It is known that the criminals who rob motorists and commuters in traffic jams are most times people who pretend to be hawkers of assorted wares.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it is important to note that some causes of traffic robberies are the ripple effects of motorists’ indiscipline, impatience and selfishness.

Investigations by the police have revealed how traffic hawkers turn to robbers at night and connive with commercial motorcycle operators as get-away after forcefully dispossessing their victims of valuables.

The investigations according to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, showed that some of the arrested traffic robbers had an organised group.

They have a place where they assemble to get their briefings from their gang leaders before they are distributed to various locations in the state to commit the heinous act, the commissioner disclosed.

The police have also enumerated some of the tactics the robbers employed during their operations to include, tapping at motorists’ side windows and showing them their guns to instil fear in them.

Then they demand that motorists or his passengers hand over their valuables which they make away with.

They latest of their tricks is to disguise as policemen on duty and flag down vehicles and demand for its particulars.

Whether they find anything wrong with the vehicle’s documents or not, they order you to go with them to the police station only to divert their victim to an unknown destination to kidnap him.

Afterwards, they ask the victim to call any of his or relation and they will demand for ransom.

In a move to checkmate these ugly developments and fight crime generally, the police have increased their patrols, especially with the recently introduced ‘Safer Highways Patrol.’

A Correspondent of NAN reports that the presence of policemen on the highways and even streets, especially in areas prone to gridlocks are visible.

NAN observed that the Operation Safer Highways Patrol teams have coordinated their patrols in a way that the traffic won’t prevent the officials from doing their job.

They are now seen on motorcycles monitoring traffic on some dual carriage ways like the Lagos/Abeokuta expressway, usually between Oja-Oba and Ile-epo area of Abule-Egba, where the traffic is intense.

Owoseni urged Nigerians to shun reporting crime first on the social media, advising that the right thing to do was to report first to the nearest police station.

The commissioner noted that doing so would help the police in preventing further occurrence. (NAN)

•Photo shows CP Owoseni.

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