Suspected leader of a seven-man robbery gang arrested by the police for leading a house-to-house raid during a robbery operation in Lagos has admitted that the gang was in the habit of torturing victims who had no money to give.
Nineteen-year-old Taiwo Amosun said they tortured their victims to send warning signals to would be victims that the gang knew their victims’ financial status. He said it was important to let their victims know that armed robbery is serious business and that his gang would not condone lies.
Other members of the gang, according to Amosun, include those he identified simply as Owolabi, Akeem, Yaro, Damilola, Sanjo and Sunday as he does not know their complete names.
The gang was said to have insider members in most of the places they mapped out to attack and usually kept their weapons in the house of the said insider preparatory to the operation they would carry out on that particular day.
Luck had run out on the gang on April 4, 2015 when the gang, during an operation in Lagos tortured their victims and locked up security men in a room after tying their legs and hands. They were also said to have collected the pump action guns used by the security men as well as their machetes. Their activities, however, attracted the attention of operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, who swung into action, tracked down Amosun and arrested him.
His arrest also led to the arrest of Jamic Amsat (28) and Owolabi Aremu (22).
Speaking with our reporter, Amosun said: “Now that we have been arrested, nobody wants to be addressed as the gang leader. Why do they say I am the leader? Well, if they call me the leader, I accept that I am the leader. We are all armed robbers and have been arrested, so let us be wiser by speaking the truth.”
Describing himself as an indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State, he said: “I have no father or mother. I learnt aluminum work to help myself. We are two brothers born of the same mother. My workshop is situated in Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
“We don’t operate where we work, sleep or live. We operate far away from our base to avoid being seen as armed robbers.
“I was made the leader when our leader left our gang, but he was still controlling the gang from outside. We made returns to him, so the best thing to call me is the second in command. Our leader is supposed to be Damilola, but he is still at large.”
Amosun said his first participation in a robbery operation started on a day he went to Agege to play with his friends. “I did not know that they were planning a robbery operation at the place until I followed them back to Sango-Ota for a house-to-house robbery.
“The house we robbed at Sango was a flat. We collected a pump action machine gun from the security man, marched him inside the house and locked him up.
“We collected two laptops, about five phones and N100,000 cash from the owner of the house. We locked the members of the family in one room.
“We did not even cover our faces because we warned our victims not to look at us in the face or we would shoot them. But we did not shoot anybody.
“We returned to Agege Garage after the operation where we shared the loot. I was given N10,000.”
He recalled that he had been in SARS’ net before for cultism.
The second suspect, Jamie Amsat (18) said: “I am the gang’s armourer. We collected two locally made pistols and one pump action, and they were given to me for safe keeping. They usually gave me between N15,000 and N20,000 for keeping guns for them.
“I do not go to operations with them because I don’t have the lever to do it. I don’t want to kill any human being till I die.”
The third suspect, Owolabi Aremu (22) said: “I am from Abeokuta, Ogun State. My father is late while my mother is old. I live at No. 7 Atubaje Street, Agege.
“I was the one who intimidated our victims with guns and demanded for money.
“When we see a victim, we know how much to expect from him. We collect money from victims, according to their financial status.”