Jobless Men Arrested Over Illegal Road Block

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

A gang of jobless men have been arrested after they organized and set up an illegal road block on the road and was using it to extort money from the residents and public in Ikotun area of Lagos state, Nigeria.
According to the residents, they woke up in the morning to go to work and discovered that they have to pay a toll before they would be allowed to pass their street roads due to illegal toll set up by the gang.
Both commuters and pedestrian were not spared in the toll exercise as it was mandatory for them to pay through use of force by those stern looking men.
They were made to part with the money both in the morning when they are going to work and evening when they are returning from work daily.
Failure to pay attracted sanction, it was either you pay the money or they will injure you or smash your vehicle as the case may be.
According to police, they set up the toll and was collecting between N100 and N200 for commercial and private vehicles, while trucks and trailers pay between N500 and N1000.
Following the report by the residents, the police moved into action and smashed the gang.
Two suspects, Seyi Adesina, 35 and Olarewaju Olaitan,28 was arrested and charged before a Lagos court for allegedly setting up an illegal road block and extorting money from the  public as toll.
They were arrested at Ikotun where they blocked Abaranje road by a team of police officers from ikotun division.
The two suspects was arrested in the spot and other suspects escaped and are now at large.
They claimed that their business  collapsed and as such they decided to raise money by forcefully collecting toll from the public to start again.
However, their plan to raise the money did not materialize as the matter was reported to the police and they were rounded up and taken to the station.
They were charged with conduct likely to cause breach of public peace and extortion and stealing under the Criminal code.
At the Ejigbo Magistrate’s court when they were arraigned, they pleaded not guilty.
The presiding Magistrate, Mrs J.O.E. Adeyemi. granted them bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surtey in like sum.
They were remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri pending when they will perfect their bail condition.
The matter was adjourned till 17 October 2016.