There was tension around the railway line area of Fagba, Lagos, on Thursday as street urchins set the corridor ablaze to evade arrest by operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Other Related Offences.
Some of the street urchins were, however, arrested by the resolute policemen.
The timely arrival of firefighters from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services prevented a serious arson as the fire affected a filling station and a nearby branch of a new generation bank.
It was gathered that the task force officials were on enforcement operation in the area when the street urchins set the corridor on fire.
The image maker in charge of the task force, Abdulraheem Gbadeyan, while speaking on the incident, said “In continuation of its ongoing clean-up enforcement operations to rid Lagos State of criminal elements, the Lagos State Taskforce has recorded a major incident at the Fagba Railway Corridor, where suspected miscreants and street urchins, call girls, and ‘Boller Boys’, set parts of the corridor ablaze in a desperate attempt to resist arrest and evade law enforcement.
“The railway corridor, which has increasingly become a haven for criminal activities, had earlier been flagged for serious offences, including robbery, rape, cultism, drug peddling, illegal brothel parading teenagers as strippers and the stoning of moving trains and their passengers.
“In response to these growing concerns, the agency carried out a targeted raid to restore order and safety in the area.”
According to the task force, the operation, which commenced in the early hours of the day, was coordinated by the chairman of the agency, CSP Adetayo Akerele.
Areas covered during the enforcement exercise included Alfa Nla, Okekoto, Pen Cinema in the Agege axis, and the Fagba Railway Corridor, where the presence of undesirable elements had been established.
During the operation at Fagba, officers encountered pockets of resistance from the miscreants, who escalated the situation by setting parts of the railway corridor on fire.
The statement added that all arrested suspects would be charged to court in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law of 2017.
Speaking after the operation, CSP Akerele admonished youths to shun criminal activities, stressing that “crime is not a career” and urging them to engage in lawful and productive ventures.