Police arrest airport taxi passenger for attempted car snatching

A 35-year-old passenger was detained by the Lagos State Police Command for attempting to steal an airport taxi from its driver.

On Wednesday in Lagos, command spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed the arrest to reporters.

According to Hundeyin, the taxi driver reported the case to the Alausa Police Division on June 11 at approximately 1:40 a.m.

He clarified that the driver reported that on June 11, at approximately 1:20 a.m., while he was working as a driver in the Ajah Chevron area, he was stopped by the suspect, who was posing as a passenger.

He cited the taxi driver as saying that the suspect asked to be taken to the Agidigbi Shrine in the Alausa neighbourhood of Ikeja, and that after concluding on the fare, they both started the journey to the destination.
When they arrived at the Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, by 7UP Alausa Ikeja, the suspect sitting next to him attacked him and tried to steal his Toyota Camry car by pulling a knife out of his bag.

The driver attempted to struggle with the suspect during which he cut his hand severely with a knife.

"He promptly set off an alarm, and some benevolent Nigerians rescued him, as the suspect fled."But the Anti-Crime team of the Alausa police division later arrested him following a furious chase," he said.

According to Hundeyin, the car was brought to the station along with the suspect, and an investigation was conducted at the time.

In a subsequent development, he said, a 28-year-old man, who had been parading himself as military personnel with the uniform of his friend serving in Maiduguri, was arrested for impersonation.
According to Hundeyin, the fictitious soldier was apprehended by Ilemba Hausa Division agents last Friday at approximately 5:45 p.m. while conducting a surveillance patrol at Jinadu Street, Ajangbadi.

According to him, the suspect was riding a black, unregistered motorbike and was fully clothed in an army camouflage uniform when he was taken into custody.

According to the spokesperson, the suspect abandoned the motorbike and started running after they spotted the policemen, but they pursued him and took him into custody.

"The suspect is not a soldier, according to preliminary investigation, and the army camouflage uniform belongs to his friend, a military personnel serving in Maiduguri," he stated.