Area boys

[2][3] They extort money from passers-by, public transporters and traders, sell illegal drugs, act as informal security guards, and perform other "odd jobs" in return for compensation.

[4][5] In present times, "Agbero" is used informally to describe a person, usually a thug, who collects rates, fees, tools and other forms of tax around motor parks.

[6] Jaguda, meaning 'pickpockets', were a group of informally structured young boys based in Lagos and Ibadan whose camaraderie was grounded on age and neighbourhood and whose major form of operation was against property.

[9] In Ibadan they were primarily migrant juveniles living in Ekotedo area, their visible means of income is to carry loads of the passengers within railways stations and collecting bus and lorry fares on behalf of drivers.

[8] Their underworld activities were conducted through various means, including premeditating chaos in markets or public spaces by pretending to fight each other or bumping into their targets on the road while fellow gang members stealthily picked the pockets of onlookers.

[9] The phenomenon of Boma boys in Lagos was ascribed to a group of unlicensed guides of African and Europeans servicemen who operated prominently during World War II.

To earn income, the unemployed youths move outwards towards a junction or intersection where they don on outfits as union members of a road transport association or engage in security related commerce that verges on extortion.

One of the methods Area Boys use for extortion is to surround pedestrians, drivers, and passengers in vehicles, which are stuck in traffic, and force them to pay for some actual or fictitious service before letting them go.

[18] During the Hausa-Yoruba riots in Lagos in 2000, where thousands of Hausa fled to military barracks and nearly 100 people died, area boys took advantage of the chaos and joined in the mayhem, throwing glass and bottles at shops.

[20] However, in May 2005, after a Nigerian soldier was assaulted and stabbed by several area boys as he tried to prevent them from taking money from a bus driver,[1] the military began a crackdown against the group.