Confronting Street Extortion and Urban Disorder in Lagos By Adebisi Adams Oyeshakin
In Lagos, everyday movement often feels like a negotiation with space. Commuters brace for sudden demands for money from groups of street urchins known locally as “Agbero”. Content creators attempting to shoot in public spaces are frequently confronted with extortion labelled as “owo omo onílé”—the so-called landowners’ fee. In most cases, it has nothing to do with land. It is simply roadside extortion.
Alongside this is the enduring menace of “omo-onílé” land racketeering, where intimidation and informal levies complicate access to property and weaken community cohesion. Throughout 2025, Lagosians have watched closely as the Lagos State Police Command, under Commissioner of Police Olohundare Jimoh, confronts these overlapping forms of urban disorder with a blend of enforcement, intelligence and community engagement.
Agbero activities and “omo-onílé” practices have become recurring themes in public discourse and on social media. Motorists whose vehicles break down can find themselves surrounded and pressured to pay before they are “allowed” to proceed. Traders, bus operators and pedestrians describe the same pattern: informal groups asserting control over stretches of road, markets and junctions, charging money without legal authority. The effect is corrosive—undermining confidence in the rule of law and injecting friction into the city’s economic and social life.
In October 2025, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) carried out coordinated operations in known hotspots such as Old Toll Gate in Ketu, Adeniji Adele near the Third Mainland Bridge and Ile Epo in Agbado. Several suspects were arrested for harassing motorists and pedestrians, with some identified as ex-convicts linked to wider street crime networks. Police officials said the operations were guided by intelligence and community reports, reinforcing the view that the problem extends beyond casual nuisance into organised delinquency.
Soon after, a distress call reporting robbery and harassment at Ile Epo led to the arrest of a suspect and a buyer of stolen goods. Follow-up investigations helped officers map movement routes and contact networks. RRS leadership noted that reducing harassment along major corridors requires understanding patterns of activity, not merely reacting after offences occur. Public cooperation, they stressed, remains central to effective intervention.
The Lagos State Taskforce, a multi-agency enforcement body, has also intensified its role. In late 2025, it arrested 32 street urchins accused of creating public nuisance and obstructing traffic at bus stops and junctions across the Island and mainland. The message was clear: public spaces were to be reclaimed from intimidation and disorder.
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That momentum carried into January 2026, when the Taskforce announced the arrest of 281 suspected street urchins during week-long operations in commercial and high-traffic districts, including Lekki Phase 1, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Yaba and Surulere. Many were arraigned in court. Commanders explained that the operations were designed not only to remove disruptive elements but to send a deterrent signal to those who rely on fear and coercion to extract money from commuters and traders.
These enforcement measures followed legislative pressure. In mid-2025, the Lagos State House of Assembly called on security agencies to confront the rising extortion of motorists by agbero, urging stronger intelligence gathering and decisive action. Lawmakers warned that unchecked roadside levies were eroding daily life and weakening public confidence in the state’s capacity to secure its streets.
Yet policing in this context has required more than boots on the ground. The Command has repeatedly urged residents to report harassment and extortion promptly, noting that actionable tips often lead to swift and targeted interventions. In response, both foot and vehicular patrols have been reinforced in high-risk areas, serving as deterrence and reassurance that law enforcement remains present and responsive.
Still, officials acknowledge that enforcement alone cannot dissolve a problem rooted in deeper social dynamics. Youth unemployment, limited economic opportunities and the persistence of informal economies blur the line between nuisance and organised predation. Arrests may disrupt networks, but lasting change depends on prevention and engagement.
This perspective has informed the Command’s outreach. CP Jimoh has consistently warned that extortion and harassment will attract legal consequences, while also calling on community leaders, market associations and transport unions to collaborate with the police in identifying criminal patterns. Such partnerships help distinguish ordinary street life from coordinated criminal enterprise.
The “omo-onílé” land-grabbing phenomenon adds another layer of complexity. In high-value property zones, fraudulent claims, intimidation and parallel power structures continue to challenge legitimate land transactions. Although legislation and task forces have addressed the issue in the past, enforcement gaps allow it to resurface. Police coordination with state agencies has increasingly focused on monitoring land piracy reports to prevent entrenched racketeering networks from taking root.
The evolving response in Lagos suggests a command that is adapting—balancing force with strategy, and authority with engagement. Intelligence-led operations target habitual offenders, while visible patrols and court processes reinforce the consequences of street extortion. At the same time, collaboration with civic groups and neighbourhood associations points to an understanding that sustainable order cannot be imposed by policing alone.
Lagos is a city where ambition, pressure and opportunity collide daily. Addressing agbero harassment, “owo omo onílé” extortion and land racketeering demands more than episodic crackdowns. It requires sustained strategy, shared intelligence, citizen participation and social interventions that reshape the environment in which disorder thrives.
In this sense, reclaiming the streets is not only about removing miscreants. It is about restoring the expectation that public space belongs to everyone—governed by law, not by fear.
Adebisi Adams Oyeshakin, a PRNigeria Fellow, writes via: [email protected]
