Man robs Uber driver with powdered pepper in Lagos

The police in Zone 2 command Onikan, Lagos State, have arrested a man, Olamide Tailor, for allegedly robbing an Uber driver of his car in the Abule-Egba area of the state.

The Zonal Public Relations Officer, SP Hauwa Idris-Adamu, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Saturday, August 5, 2023.

Idris-Adamu said the arrest followed a petition received by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Ari Mohammed, whose command covers Lagos and Ogun.

She stated: “On July 22,2023 at 12:50 a.m., intel was received by the AIG that along Fagba Abule Egba Area, one suspect by name Olamide Tailor and his friend Habeeb now at large stopped a Corolla Saloon car, ash in colour driven by an Uber driver one Mr Gbadamosi Adewale.

“The suspect told the driver to drop them at Fela’s shrine, Ikeja.

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“While on their way, they ordered the driver to turn back to where he picked them from on the pretext that Habeeb had forgotten his cellphone at a hotel. The uber driver obliged.

“When the Uber driver stopped at the point he had picked them, one of the suspects, Habeeb who is now at large came out of the car pretending to be making a call and later went back into the car and sat behind the driver.

“At that time he had powdered pepper in his hand.

“Habeeb now applied the pepper in the victim’s eyes which forced him (driver) to jump out of the car shouting ‘thief thief’.

“Tailor then took over control of the car and drove away.”

The zonal police spokesperson added that on receipt of the intel, the AIG swung into action, detailed a team of detectives from a monitoring unit who immediately tracked the said car and apprehended Tailor, who has given useful information to the police on the matter.

She noted that an investigation was ongoing, adding that the arrested suspect will be arraigned in a court of competent jurisdiction on conclusion of investigation.

She, however, enjoined the residents, particularly commercial drivers, to be alert to the suspicious movements of their passengers.

The Star