LASTMA Busts ‘One-Chance’ Gang, Recovers 77 Stolen Phones In Lagos Raid

Officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have apprehended six suspected members of a notorious ‘one-chance’ robbery syndicate operating under the notorious Ijora Bridge in Lagos.

According to Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, items recovered during the raid included 77 assorted mobile phones, two PoS machines, several wristwatches, and other valuables believed to have been stolen from unsuspecting commuters.

The arrests were made during a joint inter-agency operation targeting illegal garages, unauthorised parks, and criminal enclaves around Apapa Road, Costain, and Ijora under bridge.

The coordinated operation was led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Hon. Sola Giwa, which involved officers from the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), Lagos State Task Force, Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), and the Nigerian Army.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the Ijora under-bridge area had long served as a criminal enclave accommodating miscreants, illegal traders, and one-chance syndicates who specialised in orchestrated theft, violent assaults, and dispossession of innocent citizens.

The location also functioned as a clandestine storage hub for stolen valuables and contraband goods.
Enforcement teams also seized several kegs of adulterated diesel and over 150 packs of expired snacks, including plantain chips and Cheese Balls, hoarded under unsanitary conditions posing grave threats to public health and the environment.

The joint task force further demolished over 120 illegal shanties, including those erected along the perimeter of St. Peter’s Catholic Nursery and Primary School on Apapa Road. Officials said the clearance “reclaimed” the area’s urban integrity and restored its aesthetic order.

Speaking during the operation, Hon. Sola Giwa reaffirmed the Sanwo-Olu administration’s zero-tolerance policy toward illegal occupation of public spaces and criminal activities beneath bridges.

“The clean-up and arrests are integral components of the government’s holistic strategy to ensure a safer, cleaner, and more habitable metropolis,” Giwa said.

He warned, “criminal elements and illegal occupants still operating beneath bridges and in unauthorised spaces to vacate immediately,” adding that, similar enforcement operations will be sustained with renewed vigour until full compliance is achieved across the State.”

LASTMA General Manager, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, lauded the inter-agency collaboration, describing it as “a demonstration of cooperation at its best.”

He noted that LASTMA’s role “transcends conventional traffic management, extending into public safety, environmental protection, and safeguarding transport corridors from criminal encroachment.”

Bakare-Oki urged Lagos residents to remain vigilant, report suspicious activities promptly, and cooperate with ongoing government efforts to sanitise and secure the city’s transport infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, the six suspects identified as Adetunji Bashiru (28), Sulaiman Kada (35), Abubakar Bala (42), Abubakar Ahmed (28), Rasaq Gbadamosi (21) and Ibrahim Yakub (23) will be transferred to appropriate law enforcement authorities for further investigation and prosecution.