Beyond the moral assault it presents on the psyche of the nation, armed robbers, bus robbers especially, are finding convenience in the flagrant extortion of money by policemen on highways and stop points from motorists, commercial transport drivers in particular, to carry on with their heinous activities.

Robbers, who style their activities, "a catch in the air," had in the last two years operated freely in commercial buses, mini transport buses (danfo) in particular, in Lagos, robbing passengers of money and other valuables during such encounters.

Known to be particularly active on the busy Ikorodu Expressway, Oshodi-Abeokuta Expressway, Oshodi-Anthony-Gbagada Expressway, Third Mainland-Oworonsoki-Tollgate Expressway, Mile 2-Oshodi Expressway, Okokomaiko-Mile 2 Expressway, Orile-Mile Expressway and the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, the bus robbers, who operate in connivance with the bus drivers and their mates (conductors), do not only rob their victims of cash and valuables, including lately telephone handsets, some of them rob, maim and even kill their victims.

The introduction of the Operation Fire for Fire in the last one year had considerably reduced the activities of the men until recently when Mobile policemen, enforcing the anti-crime strategy on highways and the suburbs, threw caution to the winds to openly collect money from commercial bus drivers.

As the habit persists not withstanding threats and arrests of policemen involved by the leadership of the Force, the bus robbers have staged a return, paying their way through police points to rob passengers, who are road-bound early or returning home from as early as darkness sets in.

The experience of Boye Ajayi of THISDAY's Sports Desk penultimate Saturday better explains the prevailing situation in Lagos.

Ajayi, who left the Apapa, Lagos Corporate head office of THISDAY at about 9pm for home, had lost N5,000 cash, his 3310 Nokia handset with a SIM card of phone No 08037258966 and a gold wrist watch to the bus robbers, who paid their way through three police points on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, to rob him and other passengers in the bus.

The danfo bus painted in Lagos commercial colours, Ajayi said, had called for Oshodi passengers at the Apapa Roundabout on Creek Road, to attract them.

"We had no reason to think that the people were robbers, with other people we thought were passengers in the bus.

"The journey went smoothly and at the Tincan Second gate area, where we met some mobile policemen, the conductor and the driver promptly offered them money to have their way through. We next met some policemen around Trinity Bus Stop and the driver and conductor gave them some money as well and continued with the journey without the policemen, bothering to look into the bus. Just about four poles away at Otto Wharf, around Berger Bus Stop, we met another set of policemen, again they promptly settled them, and sped off. They subsequently slowed them a little after mile 2 top bridge, one of them pretending to drop, but he did not, he only came near the door to block the rest of us in. They then announced to us that we were under siege. The driver drove dangerously, going at break neck speed. While this lasted, they started robbing us with one of them wielding a gun at us, and telling us to co-operate or we have our heads blown off.

They collected the handsets, money and wrist watches of all five of us we later realised to be the only genuine passengers.

As the driver drove in that speed, one of our tyres suddenly got burst. They managed to park, locked us up in the bus, threatening to shoot us if we made any noise. They eventually changed the tyre, joined us in the bus again and continued with the raid on us. Some few metres away, before Sawyer Bus Stop, they dropped us, warning us not to make noise and sped off.

"We then find the courage to check and find out what we had lost and what we had left. While all four passengers, including me lost everything we had on us, one of the lady passengers appeared very lucky as the robbers did not take anything from the polythene bag she held.

"While she lost the over N1,000 she had in a purse in her hand, the N100,000, cash, N1 million draft and the mobile phone hand set she had in the polythene bag was intact. Either by act of omission or commission, the robbers did not bother to check the polythene bag. And as the lady, who said she was sent with the cash and draft found them intact, she could not hold her joy as she knelt right there on the highway in that darkness to give praise to God.

"But leaving the place for home for the rest of us, having been robbed of everything on us, became a problem. Thank God for good Samaritans, who came to our rescue with some money to assist us home.

"The police authorities need to do something urgent about this attitude of their men, shamelessly collecting money from motorists. They must be told that as rewarding as their efforts are lately in the fight against crime as armed robbery, unless something is done to stop the men from this open collection of money, robbers and even assassins would always have their way as they would continue to pay their way through police points,, being manned by unsuspecting policemen", Ajayi submitted.