The Lagos State Taskforce has arrested 46 suspected offenders, including illegal commercial motorcyclists and suspected drug peddlers, during coordinated enforcement raids across several parts of the state.
The suspects were apprehended during operations conducted at Muri-Okunola Park in Victoria Island, Obalende Underbridge, Law School Junction, Maroko, Sandfill by Mobil Bus Stop, and Marwa Bus Stop along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
In a statement issued on Friday, the agency said the operation was part of its ongoing clean-up enforcement exercise aimed at ridding the state of street urchins, miscreants, drug addicts, suspected drug peddlers, illegal commercial motorcyclists (Okada riders), street traders, illegal ticket touts, and other criminal elements.
According to the agency, during the raid officers also recovered substances suspected to be Indian hemp, Colorado, and cannabis, a UTC cutlass, and a Dane gun described as a metal object fabricated in the form of a pistol but incapable of firing live ammunition.
It added that normalcy had been restored in all the affected areas and that those arrested would be prosecuted in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law, 2017, and the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018.
Speaking at the agency’s headquarters, the Chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce, CSP Adetayo Akerele, said the agency would not give criminal elements any breathing space in Lagos.
He reaffirmed the Taskforce’s commitment to sustaining enforcement operations across the state to ensure public safety and maintain law and order.