The Lagos State Police Command has alerted residents of the state on the
new tricks employed by armed robbers to carry out their attacks,
particularly at night. Spokesperson of the state command, Dolapo Badmos,
in an interview yesterday July 3rd, said the criminals, in an attempt
to rob or kidnap their victims, now switch off running power generating
sets or sometimes turn off tap water, to lure their victims out of their
homes and then carry out their planned attack.
“Residents should be careful when they discover that their generators
stop working or notice water gushing out from their taps, at night. They
should watch carefully before going out. If they notice strange
movements, they should call the nearest police station. This is why
residents are advised to know the telephone numbers of the Divisional
Police Officers (DPOs) or station phone numbers close to them,’’ she
said.
A resident of the state, Tunji Ajayi, who was recently attacked by
robbers at his home in the Agbado area of the state, confirmed the new
tricks employed by the criminals. Speaking to PM news, he said the
robbers turned off his generator while it was working at about 2pm and
when he refused to come out to check on it, they carried the generating
set with them.
“When they could not gain access into my house, they became frustrated,
they then decided to take away my generator. I left my generator on at
night as usual, but at about 2 a.m, the generator suddenly went off. I
took my time to observe what must have happened through the window
before stepping out, but suddenly, I heard footsteps, so I decided to
stay back. When the criminals realized that I was not coming out
immediately, they decided to take away my generator,’’ he said.
Another resident of the state who gave his name as Micheal, said he almost fell victim to the criminals new trick
“Usually, I put on my generator set from 7.30 p.m to 11 p.m. on daily
basis. I guess, these suspected criminals had been watching me. On this
particular day, I was about going to put it off, when I heard footsteps.
I decided to stay back, after which, the hoodlums started threatening
me to open the door, but I refused and started to scream and they
fled,’’ he said.