The Lagos State Government has announced the arrest of no fewer than 300 suspected miscreants, popularly known as ‘Omotaku’, accused of harassing motorists across the state.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday while reacting to a motorist’s claim of spending the night in a broken-down vehicle along the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway without being attacked.
Wahab attributed the safe experience to intensified enforcement efforts by the state government and security agencies.
“While we thank God for your safety during the time, let us also acknowledge the government’s effort (our effort) in ensuring safety of everyone, and the contribution of our security agencies,” he said.
He explained that the government had stepped up surveillance and enforcement operations in recent months to curb the activities of the street gangs.
“What have we done differently? In the last few months, we have initiated a statewide security surveillance, clamping down on miscreants disturbing motorists. Through the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Taskforce, we have arrested over 300 ‘Omotaku’ across the state,” Wahab stated.
According to him, monitoring teams have also been deployed, particularly at night, to patrol major roads and ensure the safety of road users.
“We have also initiated monitoring teams that go around monitoring the roads especially at night to ensure safety of every road users,” he added.
The commissioner further noted that officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps have been mandated to monitor pedestrian bridges and areas under bridges to dislodge and apprehend individuals using such spots to perpetrate crimes.
“It is not yet El Dorado but we are not resting on our oars until sanity is restored to the state,” Wahab said.
