The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Task force on Thursday arrested three suspected hoodlums attacking and extorting stranded motorists.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post on X, said the suspects target stranded drivers whose vehicles have broken-down on the road to fleece them of their money.

Mr Wahab wrote, “Yesterday, April 2nd, 2026, operatives of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Taskforce continued with the arrest of hoodlums attacking unsuspecting drivers with broken-down vehicles popularly known as ‘omotaku’. 

“Three suspects were arrested at two different locations: Palmgrove bus stop and Oniru area on the island, for forcibly attacking their victims. Suspects will be charged to court accordingly.”

In a video attached to the post, the attacked motorist at Palmgrove Bus Stop, while narrating what transpired, alleged that a mechanic was working on his faulty vehicle after officials of the Lagos Traffic Management Authority assisted him, when the suspect suddenly emerged and aggressively demanded money.

The motorist said, “When my car tripped off, I was supported by some LASTMA. So, when he came, he said, ‘What’s happening, I’m agitated, you must give me money’. I was like, ‘are you more agitated than I am? Do you know how much I’ve been spending? I have a serious meeting out there that I want to go and do, you want me to give you money. Give you money for what? If to say you helped me, it would have been a different thing. You didn’t assist me, you just want to collect money. So, that was the conversation between us before this action was taken.”

Denying the allegation, the suspect who claimed to be a carpenter and returning from Ojuelegba, said he only wanted to know if the stranded motorist needed a mechanic for his faulty vehicle; a claim which elicited interjections from the motorist and witnesses that a mechanic was already working on the vehicle before he came.

In the case of the attacked motorist at Oniru, the victim said he was returning from conveying his boss at the Redemption Camp when two of the suspects suddenly appeared, demanding his money but refused, until task force officials arrived. 

He said, “The vehicle broke down while coming from Osapa London, I conveyed madam to Redemption Camp. When I parked, one of them suddenly appeared and said he wanted money, that this is where they live, they don’t have anywhere else and they must collect ‘owo ile.’ I said there’s no money I could give. Another one came and also said I must give them money. I said there’s no money I could give anybody.”

Mr Wahab’s post came a day after some suspected hoodlums were arrested at Marwa Bus Stop in Lekki, for demanding phone and money from a trucker, alongside other suspects in Palmgrove, for allegedly harassing road users.