The police in Ogun have banned hawking and trading on the long bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, following incessant robbery attacks in the area.

A tactical squad has also been deployed to crack down on criminals disguising as hawkers to rob commuters on the bridge, disclosed Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesman in the state.

Mr Oyeyemi noted that the highway robbers were taking advantage of the traffic build up in the area, occasioned by the ongoing construction on the road to waylay travellers.

“The commissioner of Police CP Lanre Bankole has directed the command’s tactical teams to move to the area and complement the efforts of the divisional policemen in patrolling the area,” Mr Oyeyemi said in a statement on Thursday.

“It has also been discovered that some of the hoodlums are pretending to be hawking goods on the bridge during traffic gridlock and using the opportunity to carry out robbery operations.

He stressed that “those hawking goods on the bridge to quit with immediate effect in order to sanitise the environment and deter the criminals from perpetrating crime on that bridge and anywhere around.”

Mr Oyeyemi said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has pledged to “do everything possible within the ambit of the law to flush out the hoodlums in the area.”

Recently, commuters have been reporting that robbers attack and collect their belongings on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, particularly after the Ojudu Berger axis.