As government and security personnel work to reduce insecurity in Ogun State and throughout Nigeria, ritualists, kidnappers, robbers, and rapists have now developed a new strategy to track down unwary passengers and turn them into victims.
It was demonstrated that they now go around pretending to be cyclists and cab drivers for hire.
The majority of these fictitious commercial drivers are Yoruba people, sometimes known as “Sl.” They pick up passengers by the side of the road without using a visible parking lot and transport them to their destinations.
On the nation’s main thoroughfares, the sl system is prevalent. Some of these drivers use this tactic to avoid spending hours in line at motor parks that have been given permission to accept vehicles for passenger pickup. The majority of travelers also dislike waiting around for other travelers before starting their own journeys.
The unlicensed drivers undercut their transport prices to attract roadside passengers because they do not pay fees imposed on their coworkers by transport union authorities in motorparks. According to what was learned, some of them get paid more than their coworkers at the parks. Low-income commuters, those in a rush, and those whose homes are far from the designated parks enjoy roadside drivers.
“By the road, I get into cabs. I find it more preferable to visiting parks, where I would pay more and even squander time. Mordiya Adeyemi, a civil servant in Sango, said, “I don’t see anything wrong with it.
It was recently discovered that some people have used this as a cover to murder, rape, or loot their victims.
Today, ritualists, kidnappers, thieves, and even rapists disguise themselves as taxi drivers, tricycle riders, and okada riders to pounce on unsuspecting passengers who subsequently become their victims.
Specifically on the Abeokuta/Sagamu/Ogere, Ijebu-Ode/Ibadan/Lagos, and other roads, our correspondent received reliable information that the diabolical act has become really concerning.
The goal of the ritualists is to murder those innocent passengers for ritualistic purposes that bring in money. While the rapists primarily target women to force them to have sex with them and may even kill them, the kidnappers take the passengers hostage in exchange for a ransom.
These thieves’ lairs are located inside the woodlands next to these highways. Even some of them need charms to operate. You fall asleep or pass out the moment you get in their autos. Guns are sometimes used as a form of threat. This is a very challenging time for us. Everyone must open their eyes, a motorist on the Abeokuta-Iperu highway informed our reporter in an unnamed manner.
The 60-year-old driver remembers a ritualist being detained by the task force of the transport union and how “he confessed he used to sell a human skull at the amount of N50,000.”
Recall that the Ogun State police command recently alerted the public to the potential presence of a serial murderer who has not yet been named and is rumored to be prowling the Remo axis of the State.
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The serial killer used to pose as an okada rider and select his intended female victims as passengers, according to Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police public relations officer in Ogun.
Oyeyemi claimed that such victims would be “raped, brought to a remote region, and brutally murdered in cold blood.”
This was claimed as security personnel were looking for the murderers of the recently deceased beauty queen from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Abeokuta. It’s unclear if Remo’s serial killers have been apprehended since August.
In the same month, the police in Ogijo, Sagamu Local Government Area, Ogun State, detained a bike rider and another person who had picked up a female passenger and taken her forcibly to a building where she had been gang-raped by three young males.
The So-Safe Corps in Sango-Ota detained Idowu Adebayo, a 21-year-old okada driver, for reportedly kidnapping, trying to rape, and killing a female passenger inside a bush in Ayegbe village.
Around 4 am on June 22, a tricycle driver had raped a female passenger while holding a gun to her head and robbed her of the money she was carrying. Rasaq Tahoeed, 22, picked up the passenger at the well-known Pakoto bus stop on her way to Iyana Coker in Ifo, but the customer changed her route and allegedly threatened to kill the driver if she didn’t comply.
Additionally, a taxi driver named Tunde Bello was detained a short time ago on suspicion of kidnapping, raping, and demanding N140,000 in ransom from a female passenger on the Mowe axis of the road. The woman was assaulted and beaten after getting into Bello’s taxi about five in the morning when the driver diverted to Ibadan road and plowed her into a bush on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The police reported the incident, adding that the culprit admitted to it. “After raping her, he held her prisoner and instructed her to phone her relatives. They provided the sum of N140,000 to him as ransom before he let her go,” the police added.
Recently, the police detained two ritualists who had abducted and slain Abdullahi Azeez before using his body parts in a ritual to get money. On June 8, the victim, 40, is reported to have left his Kobape house, but he never came back. Though the manner of his abduction by Friday Abinya Odeh (21) and Poso Idowu (20) is unclear, there are rumors that he must have been pulled away while in transit.
Our correspondent learned that there are several unreported instances of people being attacked or going missing after boarding vehicles by the side of the road.
“We have observed individuals who will visit our parks to announce that a member of their family is missing. Some individuals recently reported their missing relative at Kuto Motorpark. When we questioned them where he got into a cab, they replied that it was beside the bridge. We informed them that was sl. According to a representative of the Road Transport Employers Association, those vehicles are unregistered, untraceable, and the driver is unknown.
Gov. Abiodun acts immediately
A few weeks ago, it came to light that a private vehicle had parked next to the Kuto bridge to pick up passengers heading in the direction of Siun and Sagamu. The women on board were raped and had all of their things taken from them a few kilometers into the drive, however, when the car took a detour into the bush.
After learning of the occurrence, Governor Dapo Abiodun allegedly gave an order to all state security chiefs to act quickly to prevent more incidents.
According to information obtained by our correspondent, Lanre Bankole, the commissioner of police for the state of Ogun, summoned representatives of the transportation unions and ordered them to close down any unlicensed parking lots and prohibit the use of vehicles for passenger pickup on the road.
Since then, all unlawful motor parks have been “dismantled,” and union leaders have been cracking down on drivers waiting to pick up passengers on the road in coordination with security personnel.
The Branch Chairman of Abeokuta South II, Ogun State Parks Management Board, Comrade Olalekan Adebayo, corroborated the incident in an interview, saying that “three weeks ago, a car loaded passengers beside the Kuto bridge; six people, three women and three men, including the driver, were in the cab. The vehicle took a detour into the lane that is on the right just after Day Waterman.
“The women were raped, and these men took everything off of them. They drove these women out once they had satisfied their needs. They told them their story, emphasizing that they boarded the cab under the Kuto bridge, after several government representatives spotted them beside the road as they emerged from the jungle.
In order to put an end to these heinous crimes of kidnapping by imposter drivers throughout the entire state of Ogun, the governor called the police commissioner. Transport union officials were also contacted by the CP, and we kicked off the crackdown by removing all unlawful parking lots. We’ve met with security personnel and the State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps on several occasions (TRACE).
“We began on Monday, and since then, we have pleaded with the public to come to the park so they can board cars to drive wherever they are going. Safeguards have been taken. Because of the difference of N100 or N200, people shouldn’t waste their time and money traveling. We have already seen how these vile individuals robbed a man of N500,000. Do you have proof that the man didn’t have N500 to pay? Come to the park and let us know if you don’t have any money, and we will assist you. We keep your products safe and have a manifest. You can go to the park to retrieve anything you left behind if you rush into one of our cars; if you leave something on the roadside, you will not be able to do that.
Drivers on the side of the road are attacked by security personnel.
It was discovered that certain policemen from Ogun’s various security organizations have also taken jobs as roadside vendors in an effort to make ends meet.
The task force established to stop the activities of roadside drivers is attacked by security operatives who pose as police, according to transport union representatives.
“I must add that security agents have made this enforcement challenging for us. As if they are above the law, they are the ones attacking our task force.
We’ve advised them to visit the parks if they need passengers, and we’ll be happy to help. However, they will always remain near the road. This requires action on our part.
Police spokesperson Oyeyemi responds
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The majority of recent cases, according to Oyeyemi Oyeyemi, who spoke with our correspondent, Ogun police image maker, are not reported to the police.
However, Oyeyemi insisted that the police are in favor of union officials’ efforts to put an end to some roadside drivers’ criminal activity, and he urged residents of Ogun to use designated parks rather than looking for free or inexpensive rides by the road.
Oyeyemi emphasized that no officer has the right to attack the union task force while performing their responsibilities and that the case would be looked into regarding security personnel who engage in commercial driving without reservations at authorized parks.
