Fuel Subsidy Removal Pushed Me Into Crime -Lagos e-Hailing Driver

An e-hailing driver in Lagos State, Jeremiah Adeniran, arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, has said he used to decline ride orders from men so he could rob his female passengers.

He said the hardship caused by the removal of the fuel subsidy pushed him into robbing his passengers of their valuables in Lagos State.

The suspect, who claimed to be a graduate of Accounting from the North American University, said on Friday that he usually connived with two yet-to-be-identified friends to perpetrate the crime.

Speaking to Punch during a parade of suspects at the police command headquarters in Ikeja on Friday, he said he had made a total of N700,000 from the act. He said he was arrested in Ikotun after his last operation, noting that he and his accomplices usually targeted female passengers.

Adeniran said, “When I get a man, I will decline the ride. I started last month and my first operation was on July 28, but I did two other operations this month and I was caught last Friday at Ikotun after I picked a lady along Ijegun Road a few minutes after 1am.

“She was going to the New Afrika Shrine. Immediately I picked her, I already told my two friends to stay by the road since I know where she is going. So, I picked both of them and they started the operation with the lady.”

Narrating how he was arrested, he said the phone seized from the lady led to his arrest.

He stated, “How I was arrested was that the phone we collected was with one of my friends and immediately I entered a shop in Ikotun, I saw the lady I picked on Friday night and instantly she recognised me and I was arrested and taken to Ikotun Police Station.”

Adeniran, who said he and his accomplices had robbed no fewer than four victims, urged youths in the country to be patient and earn money through legitimate means.

He added, “This is not a good place for a responsible child to be. It was not the government. Before, I was doing my normal e-hailing ride and then I could do 15 trips every day and would make good money, but because of fuel subsidy and all, the work was not just going well any longer.

“From the outset, it wasn’t my plan to do this, but I did not have a choice as of then. During the fuel subsidy removal, I have been complaining and really wanted to stop this and I was already compiling my CV. I am married with a child.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, while parading Adeniran alongside other suspects on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, said efforts were on to arrest the fleeing accomplices.

He also noted that Adeniran was arrested while attempting to sell the items he stole during the robbery at the BRT Market in Ikotun. He added that his operational Toyota Camry Saloon car and a knife were recovered from him.

Similarly, Hundeyin paraded three suspects, Igboro Rasheed, 39, Rasak Adeleke, 30, and Moses Victor, 23, in connection with the killing of an Inspector, Sunday Apochi, attached to the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos State.

“The fact of the case is that on July 23, 2023, around 8.30pm, the suspects being members of the Aiye Confraternity, led by one Sulaimon Abbas during a fight, shot the deceased with a locally-made rifle and thereafter used a battle axe on him before he died,” he said.

Hundeyin also paraded a truck driver, Samson Olusegun, and three other suspects, Jimoh Iyanu, Opeyemi Akinloye and Hazimi Abdulakeem, for stealing goods worth N60m.

He explained that Olusegun was assigned to convey a 40ft container with number ACLU-9651677, loaded with 1,040 bags of blended ‘powder milk’ worth about N60m from Apapa Tin Can Island to the Friesland Campina, Wamco Nigeria Plc on 7B Acme Road, Ogba Industrial Estate, Ikeja, Lagos.

“However, Samson Olusegun conspired with his cohorts and diverted the truck with the goods to Coker Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, where Opeyemi Akinloye, Jimoh Iyanu and others trans-loaded the goods to another truck, and thereafter sold 491 bags of powder milk worth N36.7m to one Hazimi Abdulakeem, 47,” the PPRO said.

Hundeyin, who noted that Owohunwa launched Operation Flush to tackle crime resurfacing in some parts of the state, said on August 2, 2023 at around 9.30pm, a joint operation was carried out by operatives of the Isheri Division and Area H Command to raid drug joints at Isheri North.

He said five suspects were arrested and several wraps of substances suspected to be Indian hemp and other illicit drugs such as codeine, Colorado, and loud were recovered, adding that the suspects would be charged to court for onward prosecution.

Other suspects including Zarhanu Garba, 39; Maikusa Mohammed, 42; George Ebukeebuna, 56; Abass Oluwatosin, Babatunde Daniel, Fagboun Idris, Fabian Ndubuisi, 32; Samson Isaac, 37; Wisdom Iwoha, 27; Ebuka Duru, 26; Gbenga Olamide, 38; Olufemi Olanrewaju, 40; Christain Oramuru, 31; Philip Samson, 40; and Adeniyi Adeleke, 29, among others.

Punch .