Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has apprehended six suspected members of a notorious ‘one-chance’ syndicate operating beneath the Ijora Bridge corridor of the state.

In a decisive and meticulously coordinated enforcement operation reflective of the Lagos State Government’s unflinching commitment to public safety, environmental restoration, and crime deterrence, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Thursday, 23rd of October, 2025 apprehended six suspected members of a notorious “one-chance” syndicate operating beneath the Ijora Bridge corridor of Lagos.

The arrests were made during a joint inter-agency enforcement exercise targeted at dismantling illegal garages and parks operated by commercial transporters.

The enforcement exercise was also aimed at removing unauthorized shanties and criminal hideouts around Apapa Road, Costain, and the Ijora underbridge.

The suspects operate by robbing unsuspecting commuters after picking them up as passengers, an act that is popularly known as ‘one chance’ in Nigeria.

Items recovered included 77 mobile phones, two Point of Sale machines, wristwatches, and other personal effects believed to have been forcibly taken from unsuspecting commuters and pedestrians.

The operation, led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, featured a strong coalition of enforcement operatives drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), and the Nigerian Army.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the Ijora under-bridge axis had long served as a criminal enclave, accommodating miscreants, illegal traders, and ‘one-chance’ syndicates who specialize in orchestrated theft, violent assaults, and dispossession of innocent citizens.

“The area had also evolved into a clandestine storage hub for stolen valuables and contraband goods,” LASTMA said in a statement by its Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq.

Adulterated Diesel, Others Confiscated

The agency further disclosed that during the operation, enforcement personnel also discovered and confiscated several kegs of adulterated diesel and over 150 packs of expired plantain chips and cheese balls, which were being hoarded under unsanitary conditions, posing grave threats to public health and the environment.

“Those “One-chance” syndicates apprehended have been identified as: Adetunji Bashiru (28 years), Sulaiman Kada (35 years), Abubakar Bala (42 years), Abubakar Ahmed (28 years), Rasaq Gbadamosi (21 years), and Ibrahim Yakub (23 years).

“Their cases would be transferred to the appropriate law enforcement authorities for further investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law,” it added.

The joint task team also demolished over 120 illegal shanties, including structures erected along the perimeter fence of St. Peter’s Catholic Nursery and Primary School, Apapa Road, thereby reclaiming the area’s urban integrity and restoring its aesthetic order.

Giwa reaffirmed the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s zero-tolerance policy towards environmental infractions, the unlawful occupation of public infrastructure, and the proliferation of criminal enclaves across Lagos.

He explained that the clean-up and arrests were integral components of the government’s holistic strategy to ensure a safer, cleaner, and more habitable metropolis.

He further issued a stern warning to criminal elements and illegal occupants still operating beneath bridges and in unauthorized spaces to vacate immediately.

The governor’s aide said that similar enforcement operations would be sustained with renewed vigor until full compliance is achieved across the state.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commended the professional synergy among all participating enforcement agencies, describing the exercise as a demonstration of inter-agency cooperation at its best.

He urged residents to remain vigilant, report suspicious activities promptly, and cooperate with ongoing government efforts to sanitize and secure the city’s transport infrastructure. (Channels TV)