By Precious Enaike, Florencemary Nwabueze & Akande Michael
LAGOS—The Lagos State Task Force has arrested a woman, Alimat Idowu, popularly known as Asabi Alagbo, for alleged production and sale of stickers to commercial and unpainted vehicle drivers popularly called kabukabu.
The stickers were purportedly used to evade arrest and sanctions for traffic violations in Lagos.
She was arrested alongside three other suspects identified simply as Ola, Sanjay and Aliu, while other members of the syndicate remain at large.
The suspects were said to be specialised in issuing various branded stickers, falsely presenting them as legitimate authorisations that could prevent motorists from being stopped by law enforcement agencies, particularly the Lagos State Task Force, during routine operations.
The illegal stickers found on the suspects include: “Fire (Ina),” “Olamoney,” “Sanjay Omo Oga,” “Dman,” “100% 23–24,” “Psalm 72,” and others.
Investigations by the Lagos State Task Force established that the racket involved collecting illegal weekly or monthly fees ranging from N15,000 to N20,000 per vehicle in exchange for continuous “protection” from arrest for traffic offences.
Further findings, according to the agency, showed that the stickers bore names and logos of transport unions, unauthorised local government area tags, unregistered transport association emblems, as well as fake enforcement and compliance stickers produced by private individuals and tout syndicates.
The stickers, which had no legal backing, were used to mislead drivers into believing they were immune from arrest.
For instance, whenever a commercial bus driver displaying any of the stickers was arrested by the task force for a traffic offence, the driver would call a contact who would pose as the purported boss and owner of the vehicle and attempt to persuade the security agents to release it.
Determined to identify the faces behind the names on the stickers, Vanguard gathered that operatives of the Lagos State Task Force posed as bus drivers to purchase the stickers, thereby leading to the suspects’ arrest.
Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, Adetayo Akerele, disclosed that the arrests were made in Oshodi, Isolo, Mushin, Apapa, Mile 2, along the Apapa expressway, Iyana-Ipaja, Abule-Egba, Ile-Epo, and other parts of the state.
He said the arrests demonstrated the agency’s determination to dismantle criminal networks operating on the roads, warning that any commercial vehicle found displaying such illegal or unauthorised stickers would be impounded, and the driver made to explain their source.
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