A member of a notorious one-chance syndicate that uses a painted commercial bus to rob unsuspecting passengers has been arrested in Lagos State.
The suspect, identified as Toyib Ogunjobi, was apprehended on Monday near a Conoil filling station along Funsho Williams Avenue in Surulere.
Ogunjobi and his accomplices allegedly pushed a female passenger, Bibian Emelifonwu, out of their moving bus after stealing her phone.
Recounting her ordeal, Emelifonwu said she boarded the bus and sat beside a man holding a nylon bag in the front seat next to the driver. Under the guise of opening the door beside her, the man discreetly leaned on her and stole her phone from her bag. Moments later, the criminals forced her out of the moving vehicle onto the highway.
Fortunately, officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), who were overseeing traffic in the area, witnessed the incident. They pursued the fleeing bus and successfully apprehended the driver, Ogunjobi, while his accomplices—a conductor and another passenger—escaped.
According to LASTMA spokesperson Adebayo Taofiq, Ogunjobi confessed during interrogation to leading a three-man syndicate, which includes the owner of the bus.
Ogunjobi revealed that their method involves luring passengers with low fares on the Costain-Ojota route, stealing their belongings, and then forcibly ejecting them from the moving bus.
He also admitted that the syndicate makes between N250,000 and N300,000 daily from selling stolen phones and other valuables.
“Ogunjobi further confessed that the syndicate generated between N250,000 and N300,000 daily by selling stolen phones and valuables. He also disclosed that similar One-Chance operations are proliferating across Lagos State, illustrating the pervasive nature of this criminal enterprise.
“Seven stolen phones, comprising models such as Techno Pop, Samsung AZZ, Intel A623, Techno Spark, Techno Pounoir, and Samsung devices, were recovered from Ogunjobi during his arrest. He also admitted that the vehicle’s owner was actively involved in the operation,” Adebayo said in a statement.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, urged Lagos residents to remain vigilant when boarding vehicles, emphasizing the risks posed not only by commercial buses but also by private vehicles.
He assured the public that Ogunjobi would be handed over to law enforcement agencies for a thorough investigation and prosecution.