Police Arrest 68 Suspects over Mushin Crisis, 21 Others

Chiemelie   Ezeobi
No fewer than 68 suspected hoodlums were on Tuesday arrested for their alleged involvement in the bloody crisis that occurred at the Mushin area of Lagos last Monday.

This is just as it arrested 21 other suspects for armed robbery and gangsterism and recovered 10 vehicles, 18 ammunition and eight guns from them.

The 68 persons picked up from Mushin were in addition to the eight initially arrested on the day of the clash, which saw destruction of properties and looting of shops.

Confirming the arrests, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who made this disclosure at a press conference said that the 68 persons were arrested in connection with the Mushin-Idi-Oro crisis that left many people injured and property worth millions destroyed.
The suspected were arrested by the Lagos State Task Force led by Superintendent of Police (SP), Olayinka Egbeyemi.

Many persons were last Monday injured while shops and houses were set ablaze when two rival cult groups went on rampage at Mushin and Ladipo areas of Lagos.
Owoseni, who paraded 59 out of the suspects yesterday at the command headquarters, said nine of the 68 suspects were released after screening.

He said the nine freed suspects were released following preliminary investigation that they were not in any way connected in the crisis.
He said the suspects were arrested at the popular Akala street, known for its notoreirity and illicit drug selling.

He said dangerous weapons such as pump action guns, charms, daggers and matchetes  were recovered from the hoodlums.
Already, he said the police are trailing some of the kingpins who were using the hoodlums to fuel crisis in the market.

He said some powerful people have been named, inside and outside the market as  the sponsors of the hit and run operations for selfish interest of who should control the market and collect tolls from the traders.

The CP who also paraded 21 other suspects said 13 of them were armed robbery suspects, who were this month arrested from different locations, while two suspects lost their lives during an encounter with the police.

He said out of the 21 suspects paraded, 17 were gangsters and eight arms, 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered, while ten vehicles were recovered from hoodlums within the period under review.