he operation, according to LASTMA, was part of a broader enforcement effort by the Lagos State Government to dismantle illegal garages, remove unauthorised shanties, and flush out criminal elements operating around Apapa Road, Costain, and the Ijora underbridge areas.
Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have arrested six suspected members of a notorious “one-chance” syndicate allegedly terrorising commuters and pedestrians under the Ijora Bridge corridor in Lagos.
The suspects — identified as Adetunji Bashiru (28), Sulaiman Kada (35), Abubakar Bala (42), Abubakar Ahmed (28), Rasaq Gbadamosi (21), and Ibrahim Yakub (23) — were apprehended on Thursday, October 23, 2025, during a coordinated joint operation involving multiple security agencies.
The operation, according to LASTMA, was part of a broader enforcement effort by the Lagos State Government to dismantle illegal garages, remove unauthorised shanties, and flush out criminal elements operating around Apapa Road, Costain, and the Ijora underbridge areas.
Items recovered from the suspects included 77 assorted mobile phones, two Point of Sale (POS) machines, several wristwatches, and other valuables believed to have been stolen from unsuspecting passengers during “one-chance” robberies — a notorious form of public transport crime in Lagos where commuters are lured into buses operated by robbers.
The coordinated raid was led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Hon. Sola Giwa, and featured a combined team from the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), Lagos State Task Force, Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), and the Nigerian Army.
According to a statement signed by Adebayo Taofiq, Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment at LASTMA on Friday, the Ijora underbridge had become a “criminal enclave” and a hiding place for thieves, illegal traders, and syndicates dealing in stolen goods and contraband.
“The area had evolved into a storage hub for stolen valuables and other illegal items,” the statement read, noting that several kegs of adulterated diesel and over 150 packs of expired plantain chips and cheese balls were also seized during the operation.
The enforcement team further demolished over 120 illegal shanties, including makeshift structures built along the perimeter fence of St. Peter’s Catholic Nursery and Primary School on Apapa Road, describing the effort as part of government’s campaign to reclaim public spaces and restore urban order.
Speaking during the exercise, Sola Giwa reaffirmed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration’s zero-tolerance policy toward environmental infractions and the use of public infrastructure as criminal hideouts.
Giwa said they will continue to sustain these clean-up and enforcement operations until all illegal occupants and criminal elements are cleared from underbridges and unauthorised spaces across Lagos.
He warned miscreants still operating in such areas to vacate immediately, stressing that similar operations would continue “with renewed intensity” across the state.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, also commended the synergy among participating agencies, saying the operation demonstrated effective inter-agency collaboration in maintaining safety and order in Lagos.
Bakare-Oki emphasised that LASTMA’s responsibility goes beyond managing traffic.
He explained that their mandate includes protecting lives, ensuring public safety, and preventing criminal encroachment on transport corridors, urging Lagos residents to remain alert and report suspicious activities to authorities.
The arrested suspects, according to LASTMA, have been handed over to appropriate law enforcement agencies for further investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law.
The Lagos State government reiterated that the clean-up exercise was part of its ongoing strategy to make the state safer, cleaner, and more habitable for all residents.
