Bus-stops to Avoid in Lagos as Commuters Got Tipped by Police

Starrys Obazei/December 06, 2022.

Mistura Olowu-Oyebayo, a resident of Lagos State, has narrated how some officers of the Lagos State Police Command allegedly warned her against alighting at some bus stops in the state when she visited the Alapere Divisional Headquarters to report how she was brutalized and robbed at around Tipper bus-stop, Ketu, The PUNCH reports.

Bewildered Olowu-Oyebayo wondered why those expected to secure the lives and property of citizens would tell her to avoid some bus stops – Ketu Tipper bus stop, Church bus stop, Toll Gate, Ogudu bus stop, Glass House, including Kosofe area – adding that she was not in doubt that the police knew how deadly those bus-stops were and had done nothing to rid them of criminals.

Narrating her ordeal, Olowu-Oyebayo said she was returning from her office on the Island on Friday, November 25, and owing to the traffic on her way, the staff bus she boarded got to Tipper bus-stop, Ketu, at around 8:00 p.m.

“It was around five minutes to eight (7:55 p.m.) that I alighted at the bus stop and I waited for other people to join me as I usually do so that we could move together. I saw two guys at the front and somehow I became suspicious. I asked those we were walking down together if they weren’t suspicious of the two men at our front, but they dismissed my fears and we continued walking.
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“Before we knew it, some men started walking towards us from the back and the ones at our front suddenly stopped. Seeing that I was already panicking, those we were walking together started flagging down oncoming cars to see if any would stop to pick us up from the place.

“The guys behind us and those ahead now rushed closer to us and one of them started saying ‘Collect her bag, collect her bag.’ On hearing that, I held tight to my bag. Two of them descended on me and began to drag my handbag with me while others were hitting me.

“By this time, those men we were walking together had fled from the scene, perhaps to see if they could get help.

“People were passing by and vehicles were driving by, but no one cared to help me. Instead, people close to the area moved away to a safe distance.

“I held on to my handbag and with my laptop back on my back, I fell to the ground so that the criminals would not be able to take my laptop bag.

“They dragged me on the ground, pulled my hair, beat and injured me until I could no longer hold on to my handbag.

“By the time the men who were walking with me earlier would return with some other people, the criminals had taken my handbag and fled,” she narrated.

Olowu-Oyebayo said the criminals also went away with her mobile phones and bank (ATM) cards.

She expressed surprise that some traders around there told her that she should not have alighted around there at that time of the night, adding that the traders said it was a regular occurrence in the area by “Flower boys.”

She said on getting home later that night, she tried to use her husband’s phone to block her bank accounts but she realized that the money in one of the accounts had been cleared by the criminals.

“At my end, I will ensure that those areas are no longer known for such crimes,” Hundeyin added.