Police arrest suspected Uber taxi hijacker

The Police in Lagos on Sunday said they had arrested a member of a syndicate notorious for hiring and hijacking Uber Taxi in the state.

The Commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, ACP Olatunji Disu, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Disu said the suspect was arrested by his men posted to Oshodi Oke early Friday morning.

According to the commander, the suspect operate with two others, who are now at large.

“The suspect, 37, from Ndukwa, Delta State, was arrested in Oshodi Oke at 12:30 a.m. on Friday while trying to escape after a botched attempt to hijack an Uber taxi, a black Toyota Corrolla, belonging to one Adebisi.

“The suspect, in company of two other accomplices, had boarded Adebisi’s Uber taxi in Lekki.

“They reportedly told the victim they were going to Oshodi for which he charged them N4,000.

“On getting to Ikoyi, the trio told the driver to head to Dolphin where they said they were going to pick a lady friend.

“At Ikoyi, two of the suspects came down from the vehicle and some minutes later, they came back, saying that the female friend was not going to join them and that he should keep driving to Oshodi-Oke.

“While about to climb the Oshodi-Oke bridge, one of them grabbed the driver from the backseat, while another closed his mouth with his hand.

“A gun-like object was pointed at the driver’s head and they were shouting that he should come down and come to the backseat.

“Immediately he unbuckled the seat belt and opened the door, he saw some RRS policemen at the front.

“He ran toward them shouting robbers, robbers.

“The police immediately swung to action after he explained to them that his car was about to be stolen.

“They ran toward the direction of the car and apprehended one, but two escaped,” he said.

Disu said the victim, however, claimed that his mobile phone and a sum of N80,000 were missing.

He said some charms, a master key and a pistol-shaped device were recovered from the suspect, stressing that efforts were being made to arrest others still at large.

Meanwhile, the arrested suspect had been transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, for further investigation.