Abdullahi Mukadam (not real name), a Lagos State-based truck driver, has narrated how some members of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit, popularly known as the Lagos State Task Force, seized his Suzuki Skywave 250 Motorbike under questionable circumstances.
While speaking with FIJ on Monday, Mukadam said the motorbike was forcefully taken from him on Saturday.
“On Saturday, August 16, I was standing on Union Road, Agege, having a discussion with my friend when some officers of the Lagos Task Force suddenly brought a commercial bus, in which they had been moving around in, to a stop in front of us,” Mukadam told FIJ on Monday.
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“The bus was filled with armed policemen and a handful of their civilian collaborators. Before we could even say or do anything, they hurriedly alighted from the bus and forcefully, and violently, wrestled my motorbike, a Suzuki Skywave 250, from me.
“When my friend and I opposed the task force’s action by demanding to know what our offence was, the plain-cloth civilians among them who I strongly believe were thugs, responded violently by beating us up. The police officers cut my upper lip while also beating us up. We did not commit any traffic offence.
“Moments later, they forcefully took the bike from me and left.”
Mukadam told FIJ that his motorbike was taken to the Oshodi office of the Lagos Task Force afterwards.
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“My friend and I later visited the task force office in Oshodi where I sighted one of the officers who took the motorbike from me,” said Mukadam.
“The police officers at the Oshodi office later referred us to Ikeja Along Bus Stop, telling us that we would meet the task force team who had seized my motorbike from me there.
“On getting there, the police officer in charge directed us to their civilian counterpart, a thug.
“When we met with the thug, who acted in the capacity of a chief negotiator, he demanded a N51,000 bribe payment.
“I could not afford the amount he was asking for and since that day, my motorbike has remained in their custody.”
MODE OF OPERATION
A Lagos State-based motorist, who asked not to be named, also told FIJ about his not-so-pleasant past experience at the hands of the Lagos task force personnel.
“It is the plain-cloth civilians who anchor the bribe taking negotiation to conceal the dirty deals,” said the motorist.
“Their (Lagos State Task Force) mode of operation is such that different teams go out daily to seize motor bikes on the expressway and inner streets, around Oshodi, Ikeja and Agege.
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“These bikes are taken to Ikeja Along Bus Stop, where negotiations take place under a makeshift tent between motorists and the thugs, while the police team are stationed on the other side of the road.
“They carry out the illegal seizure of motorbikes and buses in an organised fashion and use the thugs as intermediaries so that the extortion they carry out will be very difficult to trace back to them.
“I had a very bitter experience with the task force team when my commercial bus was seized by them in March. I had to borrow money from my immediate family members to get my bus back.
“I was in debt for four months.”
MUKADAM’S PLIGHT
At the time of drafting this report, Mukadam has not been able to locate his motorbike.
He is afraid the bike might be auctioned off to another person or sold soon.
“I have checked different task force offices for my bike, but I am yet to find it,” said Mukadam.
“I am quite worried as we speak. I hope and pray it doesn’t end up getting sold to another individual.
“The offence I committed was to stand by the road side and talk to a friend. I was not even on the bike. I was not causing traffic. We were just by the road side.”
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LAGOS STATE TASK FORCE SPOKESPERSON SPEAKS TO FIJ
On Monday afternoon, FIJ phoned Albulraheem Gbadeyan, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit, for a reaction on how Mukadam’s motorbike was taken from him by members of his unit.
“We carried out an operation on Saturday and it was not with a commercial bus,” said Gbadeyan.
“The operation was done with a special task force vehicle.”
When Gbadeyan demanded to know the engine capacity of the motorbike, this reporter told him it was 250 cubic centimetres.
At that point, Gbadeyan said, “Write in respect of the seizure to the Chairman, Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit.
“I am, however, still not sure it was our officers who carried out the operation.”
In 2012, the Lagos State Traffic Law stipulated that the engine capacity of any motorcycle that must operate in the state must be above 200 cubic centimetres.
Mukadam’s missing motorbike’s engine capacity is 250 cubic centimetres.
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