Fuel subsidy removal pushed me into crime -Lagos e-hailing driver

<p>…Command launches Operation Flush to tackle crime</p>, <p>An e-hailing driver, Jeremiah Adeniran, has narrated how the hardship induced by the removal of fuel subsidy pushed him into robbing his passengers of their valuables in Lagos State.</p>, <p>Adeniran, who claimed to be a graduate of accounting from the North American University, said he usually connived with two yet-to-be-identified friends to perpetrate the crime.</p>, <p>Speaking during a parade of suspects at the police command headquarters in the Ikeja area of the state on Friday, the e-hailing driver said he had made a total of N700,000 from the illegal operations.</p>, <p>He said he was arrested in the Ikotun area of the state after his last operation, adding that he and his accomplices usually targeted female passengers.</p>, <p>Adeniran said, “When I get a man, I will decline the ride. I started this last month and my first operation was on July 28. But I did two other operations this month and I was caught last Friday at Ikotun after I picked up a lady along Ijegun Road a few minutes after 1am.</p>, <p>“She was going to the New Afrikan Shrine. Immediately, I picked her up, I already told my two friends to stay by the road since I knew where she was going. So, I picked both of them and they started the operation with the lady.</p>, <p>“How I was arrested was that the phone we collected was with one of my friends and immediately I entered a shop in Ikotun, I saw the lady I picked up on Friday night and instantly she recognised me and I was arrested and taken to Ikotun Police Station.”</p>, <p>Adeniran, who said he and his accomplices had robbed no fewer than four victims, urged youths in the country to be patient with earning money legitimate.</p>, <p>He said, “This is not a good place for a responsible child to be. It was not the government. Before I was doing my normal e-hailing ride and then I could do 15 trips every day and would cash out well but because of fuel subsidy and all, the work is not just going well any longer.</p>, <p>“From the o