A robbery suspect on Monday jumped into the Lagos Lagoon to escape arrest by men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) attached to the Lagos Police Command.
Three others were, however, arrested after a “one-chance” operation on the Third Mainland Bridge.
Those arrested are John Akinyemi, 27; Paul Oliseh, 37 and Amos Williams.
The RRS revealed that its men monitoring the Iyana-Oworo axis of Lagos chased and arrested the suspects after a tip-off.
They chased the robbers operating from a Volkswagen transporter bus with registration number, AKD 562 XP to the bridge.
Police said the robbers abandoned their vehicle and were fleeing on foot when they were arrested.
One of the robbers, who was later identified as Junior, 19, was reportedly hit by speeding vehicles twice on the bridge before jumping off into the Lagoon.
According to the leader of the gang, John Akinyemi, there are four of them.
“I’m in charge of calling the team to work. It was our first trip for the day. We got four passengers in Estate Bus Stop in Alapere. They were going to Oshodi. We dispossessed them and dropped them off before Iyana-Oworo one after the other.
“We took their phones and money. We have been doing this for more than three months. We sell the mobile phones and jewellery, and we share the money.”
One of the victims, Semiu Oluwaseun, who alerted the RRS officers immediately he was thrown out of the speeding bus, said the robbers collected his phone and the sum of N500,000.
Another victim, Jamiu Ojuroye, who was robbed on Sunday, identified John Akinyemi, as the driver of the bus. He noted that he was robbed on Sunday night and that he was robbed of N150,000 before they threw him out of the speeding bus.
Ojuroye added that after struggling with the robbers, they sprayed a peppery substance in his face, took his money before throwing him off around 8pm.
The robbers were paraded on Wednesday by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja.
