The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has paraded no fewer than 1,320 suspects for allegedly terrorising and robbing residents of their valuables in various areas of the state.

Speaking at the command headquarters at Ikeja on Wednesday, Odumosu said the suspects were arrested with weapons and hard drugs, adding that the command was committed to reducing crime and social vices in the state.

He said, “Today, the command is parading a total number of 1,320 miscreants/hoodlums who were raided at various locations across the state and many weapons, suspected hard drugs and weeds, suspected to be Indian hemp, were recovered from them.

“In total, from the month of May 2021 till date, the command arrested 66 suspected armed robbers, 772 suspected cultists and 447 murder suspects, among others.”

Odumosu also stated that aside from a University of Lagos student, Chidinma Ojukwu, more suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder of Super TV’s boss, Usifo Ataga.

He said, “Chidinma initially was the only suspect that we arrested, but now, we have arrested additional suspects. So, members of the public should know that investigation into Chidinma’s case is progressing.

“The fundamental human rights of the suspects still exist under the constitution. The insinuation that the police want to sweep the case under the carpet, that will never happen. No matter the propaganda, we will never wither and we are not covering anybody as we have been able to establish conspiracy in the case.”

Among the criminal suspects paraded were three men, Fatai Balogun, Dauda Suleimon and Daniel Echebele, who allegedly raped their neighbours’ daughters.

Odumosu said one of the victims, a nine-year-old girl, revealed that Balogun had “been having unlawful carnal knowledge of her since January, 2021,” adding that her mother got to know about the incident when she perceived odour and noticed injuries in the private parts of her daughter.

The police boss said two heavily pregnant women were also rescued after men of the command stormed a baby factory on Lawanso Road, Isolo, Lagos State.

Odumosu stated that one Augustina Onyenwe was arrested during the raid.

“The suspect has made a confessional statement to that effect. The victims, aged 32 and 20, have been kept in protective custody, while the suspect will be charged to court as soon as possible,” he added.

Also, three suspected cultists, Jamiu Asalejo, Ismaila Hakeem and Okikiola Lateef, were arrested in connection with cult-related killings, armed robberies, land grabbing and possession of arms and ammunition in the Odogunyan, Isiwu and Igbokuta areas of Ikorodu, Lagos.

In the Alaba Rago area of the state, Odumosu said men of the Ojo Police Division rearrested one Jonathan Nweke, who escaped from custody during the unrest that followed the #EndSARS demonstrations in different parts of the country.

The CP said, “The divisional headquarters, Ojo, Lagos, while on stop and search duty rearrested the suspect at Volks off Badagry Expressway, with a locally-made pistol and nine rounds of 9mm live ammunition.

“The suspect, who is also suspected to be a member of the proscribed IPOB/ESN confessed to have recently come back from Awka in Anambra State where he escaped to after a jailbreak, and where he acquired the recovered arms and ammunition. He is assisting operatives in the arrest of their gang members now at large.”

Similarly, Riliwan Akindele, Ishola Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abiodun, Samuel Anyanwu, English Dennis, Akeem Kareem, Ahmed Yusuf, Shina Ajagbe, were arrested for alleged unlawful possession of firearms, cultism, robbery, among other criminal activities in the Ikorodu, Orile, Ajah, Lagos Island, Lekki, Eko Bridge, Iba-Igando areas of Lagos.

Odumosu said all the suspects would be charged to court soon.

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested more suspects in connection with the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga.

The Lagos Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, made this known during a parade of some suspects at the command headquarters in Ikeja on Wednesday, without giving details.

“We have established a case of conspiracy in the murder and we have arrested more suspects,” he said.

Ataga, whose wife and children reside in Abuja, was first reported missing by concerned friends and family after all efforts to reach him proved abortive.

Later, officers of the Lagos State Police Command found Ataga’s lifeless body in a flat in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos with multiple wounds on June 16.

Chidinma, a 300-level student in UNILAG’s Department of Mass Communication, later confessed to stabbing Ataga to death while being paraded at the state police command headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos State on June 24.

But in a video that went viral on Monday, the undergraduate denied killing the Super TV CEO – a claim that is contrary to her initial confession.

During her parade, 21-year-old Chidinma also confessed to withdrawing N380,000 from the deceased’s account to pay her school fees.

The undergraduate also told newsmen in Lagos that she stabbed Super TV CEO Michael Ataga to death in self defence.

The student, who said she was arrested at her residence at Alagomeji, Yaba, said that she met Ataga about four months before the incident.

She also corroborated the claim in an exclusive video interview with The PUNCH.

Odumosu assured the public that police would not compromise in the case, dismissing claims that one of the arrested suspected, Chidinma Ojukwu, was given a soft-landing.

The police boss described the new claims made by Chidinma Ojukwu, the suspected killer of Super TV boss as an “afterthought”.

Earlier, the House of Representatives warned that Chidinma Ojukwun must not die in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force.

The House, in their resolutions passed by the lawmakers at the plenary on Tuesday, also called on the police to “conduct a proper investigation into the matter and refrain from parading Ms. Chidinma around to grant interviews on the matter under investigation.”

The House further called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to “call all police personnel to order and ensure that there is no repeat of this violation of human rights and media access to arrested persons in the future, to avoid compromising the case in a court of law.”

In addition, the House said the IGP must ensure that “Ms. Ojukwu (the accused) does not die in custody or commit suicide while awaiting trial as in some past cases.”

Details later..