The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • Fleeing ‘armed robbers’ kill one, injure others

     

    Suspected armed robbers fleeing from policemen on Monday knocked down three persons, killing one at the spot.
    The incident occurred at about 5:40am on Sunday around Pako bus stop in Isolo, Lagos mainland.
    It was gathered that policemen while on patrol intercepted a Honda Accord car marked EPE707CM with four occupants.
    In a bid to flee from the police, the occupants suspected to be armed robbers drove dangerously ramming into a Volkswagen saloon car marked XN535LSD.
    It was learnt that one of the occupants of the Volkswagen identified as Anslem died on the spot while his co-riders sustained injuries and were rushed to Isolo General Hospital.
    Confirming the mishap, the state command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said two of the suspects were arrested.

     

    She added that the police recovered one locally made pistol with an unexpended cartridge; two Nokia phones and a wristwatch from them.

     

  • Tragedy as hunter shoots colleague dead

    Bashiru (Opee) used to be a land speculator until recently when he started going on hunting expedition without proper orientation or training

    Tragedy struck in Olorunleke village near Atan, Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State penultimate Sunday as a local hunter allegedly shot his colleague dead during a hunting expedition.

    It was learnt that in the evening of the fateful day, the errant hunter, identified simply as Jamiu, had approached his late colleague, Bashiru Opee, and invited him for a hunting expedition in a nearby forest.

    Forty-two-year-old Opee was allegedly clearing a bush path with a cutlass when Jamiu, who was holding his gun for him, “mistakenly” pulled the trigger and killed him.

    The gunshot was said to have drawn the attention of villagers who immediately rushed to the scene. The villagers were said to have invited the police who arrested Jamiu.

    It was learnt that Opee was found in a pool of blood while efforts made by the villagers to save his life did not yield fruit.

    The deceased was buried the next day according to Islamic rites.

    Although many of the villagers declined to speak to our correspondent during a visit to the community, a man who asked that his name should not be mentioned said: “Bashiru (Opee) used to be a land speculator until recently when he started going on hunting expedition without proper orientation or training.”

    Confirming the incident, the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, said the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, had ordered the transfer of the suspect to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.

  • Ritual killers on the prowl

    Ritual killers on the prowl

    Ritual killers have lately laid siege to some communities in Ogun State, leaving the residents to live in pains and perpetual fear, KUNLE AKINRINADE reports.

    • Outrage in Ogun communities as ritual murderers go on the rampage

    When he set out for business on June 10, 2014, the only thing on the mind of a belt hawker in Itele area of Ota, Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State, was how he could make a huge sale. He had no inkling of the danger that lurked around when some men in front of an uncompleted building on Alhaji Jamiu Sulaimon Street, beckoned to him.

    He cheerfully responded to their call, thinking that he was about to make some sales. Unknown to him, the supposed customers were ritual killers. They seized him as soon he arrived. His friend, who was also a hawker, had to raise the alarm after waiting for about 30 minutes without a sight of him.

    By the time policemen from Itele Police Division stormed the building, the hapless hawker was found wriggling in pains. A big gash was found on his neck and blood was gushing out of his battered eyes as the fleeing ritual killers had tried to slaughter him and pluck out one of his eyes.

    The poor boy, however, survived the unfortunate incident after he was taken to a hospital for treatment, while a few arrests were made by the police.

    But since the incident, killing of innocent people for ritual purposes has not ceased in the rustic community. On May 5, 2015, men of the Itele Police Division rescued an unidentified 28-year-old lady from an uncompleted building in the Unity and Peace Estate along Lafenwa-Itele Road, after she was lured there by some persons suspected to be ritual kidnappers.

    While she was kept in the building, her face was covered with a cloth and her mouth was gagged. Her hands and feet were also bound to prevent her escape. During the rescue operation, the decomposing body of a missing job seeker, Miss Precious Kessington Omorodion, was also discovered in the building.

    Our correspondent learnt that some of her belongings, including phones, bags and other women accessories, were found at the scene.

    The Nation had published the strange disappearance of Precious while returning from a visit to one of her cousins in the Ilishan-Remo area of the state on April 19, 2015. She was allegedly abducted by one Mayowa, who had promised to get her a job.

    Our correspondent learnt that Mayowa had met Precious in Meiran area of Alagbado, Lagos and asked her out but Precious turned down his request for a relationship, saying that her priority was not dating but securing employment.

    Horror scenes

    Similar scenarios have since played out in other parts of Ogun State. Among them was the horrific sight at Eposo village in Isara, Remo North Local Government Area, Ogun State on Tuesday June 16, 2015, where policemen discovered the decomposing body of a Science Laboratory Technology student of Gateway Polytechnic, Sapaade, Miss Morenikeji Owolabi.

    The mutilated body of the 21-year-old student was allegedly found in a shrine owned by a suspected ritualist, Femi Awise, who is now on the run.

    The late student was said to have visited Awise’s shrine for undisclosed reasons but did not return home, fuelling suspicion that she might have been kidnapped.

    Those who saw her while she was being ferried to the place were said to have instigated the arrest of the commercial motorcycle operator who conveyed her to the shrine, leading to the discovery of her dismembered body.

    Men of the Ogun State Police Command however succeeded in apprehending three suspects who allegedly connived with Awise to perpetrate the crime.

    Another sad episode occurred on Friday June 19, 2015, in Oju Ore area of Ota, Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area, where an eight-year-old pupil of a private school on Funmi Ayopo Street, Master Olamilekan Olajide, was allegedly killed by one of his teachers for ritual purposes.

    It was gathered that Olamilekan’s teacher, one Sunday Anaeto, allegedly connived with two others, Uche Isaac and Opeyemi Shodeinde, to carry out the dastardly act. It was alleged that the suspects lured the pupil into a corner of a classroom and killed him for rituals.

    Our correspondent learnt that the suspects threw the mutilated body of the boy into an uncompleted building behind the school. Anaeto and his accomplices were however caught by vigilant residents and promptly handed over to policemen at the Obasanjo Farm Police Station, Ota.

    The school building has since been destroyed by an angry mob while the suspects are being being tried at an Ota Magistrate’s Court.

    It was however a narrow escape for 97-year-old grandfather, Pa Iposiola Samaiye, on June 16, 2015, when he was rescued by policemen from Aye Forest in Isire village, along Ijebu Ode/Benin Expressway, after spending one week in the kidnappers ‘den. Pa Samaiye was taken to a hospital for treatment while the mastermind of his abduction, Emeka Obi, 40, was apprehended by men of the Ogun State Police Command.

    The baits

    In the case of the unidentified 28-year-old lady rescued in Itele, she was allegedly lured into captivity after some men had promised to secure her a lucrative contract. She reportedly told journalists: “I met one of the ritual killers two weeks ago and the relationship became deeper after the guy introduced himself as a contractor and promised to secure me juicy contracts.

    “The man called me two days ago and told me about a contract worth about N1.5m, but I could not go and meet him because I was sick. The man later came to my residence in Lagos and persuaded me to come for the contract deal.

    “But on getting to Unity and Peace Estate, we headed for an uncompleted building. One other person joined us. But when we got to the building, I smelt a rat. The building was already plastered and the floor had been cemented too.

    “But before I knew what had hit me, both of them had pounced on me. They beat me up and tried to rape me only to find that I was observing my period. They then tied my two hands and legs and covered my face and mouth with a cloth. They agreed to come back at night to complete the assignment. It was a miracle that passers-by rescued me.”

    In her comment shortly after the strange disappearance of Precious, her twin sister, Constance, said she feared her sister might have fallen victim to Mayowa because of her desperation to secure employment.

    She said: “She travelled to Ilishan-Remo to see one of our cousins on Easter Sunday, from where she told me on the phone that Mayowa had asked her to attend an employment interview with an Apapa-based manufacturing outfit where he works. Three days later, she informed me that she would be returning home on Thursday April 9, 2015.

    “On the day she promised to return, she told me that she had reached Berger Bus Stop on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. A few minutes later, she sent me a message on Whatsapp that she was at Lafenwa area of Ota, Ogun State.

    “She later sent me another text message saying that she was on her way to Spain. From then, she was no longer reachable as her three phone numbers were switched off. I feared she might have been kidnapped by Mayowa because our cousin, who she visited at Ilishan-Remo, said she overheard my sister asking the said Mayowa on the phone to pick her up at Berger Bus Stop.”

    Outrage

    Speaking with our correspondent in different interviews, outraged residents of Itele community have urged law enforcement agents to step up vigilance in order to stop the heinous killing of people in the town for ritual purposes.

    A community leader, Elder Wole Sowole, observed that the community had been under siege from ritual kidnappers lately because of security laxity.

    His words: “We were indeed more than shocked to discover another ritual kidnappers’ den in this town. We had thought that such occurrence would never be seen again after a male belt seller was rescued from an uncompleted building used by ritual killers last year.

    “It is sad that our community has been turned into a den of ritualists because there is no adequate security. The law enforcement agencies relaxed their vigilance after a belt seller was rescued last year. Such cases may not abate if adequate security measures are not put in place to stop or fish out wicked people from turning this community into their devilish den.”

    A resident of Funmi Ayopo Street, Mrs Sarah Edunjobi, said: “We are currently living in fear since a school was discovered to be the den of ritual kidnappers. Only God knows how many innocent people would have been killed in this gruesome manner. We are calling on security agencies to help us rid this community of evil men who have started preying on innocent people.”

    Condemning the killing of Miss Owolabi for ritual purpose, a community leader in Eposo, who asked not to be named, said: “We do not want a repeat of this dastardly act in our community, hence we are calling on the state government to save us from the grip of kidnappers who are prowling our community unchallenged. We have destroyed the shrine where the evil was perpetrated but we are hoping that police will come to our help so as to secure our community from these marauders.”

    When contacted on his mobile phone for comment, the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, did not pick his call while a text message forwarded to his phone was not replied at press time.

  • Sacked but pardoned employee injures boss in robbery attack

    Sacked but pardoned employee injures boss in robbery attack

    A bakery owner has been critically injured while trying to stop his employee from carrying out a robbery attack on his home.

    Sunday Olufemi a.k.a. Omoga allegedly attacked his boss, Abel Kayode Ogunsakin, at the latter’s residence in Shagamu, Ogun State at about 11.30 pm on June 30, 2015.

    It was alleged that on the day in question, Ogunsakin sighted Olufemi sneaking into his residence at No 5, Okedeji Street, Shagamu.

    Our correspondent learnt that Olufemi allegedly beat up Ogunsakin when the latter made to raise the alarm in a bid to apprehend him, but he suffered a bloody face and lost a tooth while Olufemi escaped.

    Bystanders, who were attracted to the scene by the alarm Ogunsakin raised, were said to have taken him to a nearby private hospital for treatment when they noticed that he had lost a lot of blood.

    It was gathered that Olufemi had worked in Ogunsakin’s bakery for three years before he was sacked for misconduct and later reinstated.

    Our correspondent learnt that Olufemi allegedly continued to engage in stealing money from his colleagues and boss shortly after he was reinstated.

    An impeccable source who asked not to be named told our correspondent that “Ogunsakin, who owns Timmy Bakery Ltd, had sacked Olufemi not long ago for engaging in unwholesome acts but reinstated him after some people had pleaded on his behalf.

    Ogunsakin was said to have taken him back when he explained that he had no money to feed his family because he was jobless.

    “Olufemi however continued to engage in all kinds of misconduct, including stealing from his boss and colleagues at work. He narrowly escaped being arrested in April last year when he was caught by his boss inside one of his rooms but he lied that he was taking refuge there to avoid being caught by some assailants who were pursuing him.”

    “Ogunsakin did not know that Olufemi had entered the building through the ceiling and was hiding in the corridor of the house. It was while Ogunsakin was trying to know where Olufemi was hiding that he landed several blows on his face, leading to the loss of his tooth and the blood that covered his face.”

    It was learnt that the incident was first reported to the men of the MTD Station at Sagamu before it was transferred to a police division opposite Awolowo Market, also in Sagamu.

    Our correspondent contacted the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi for comments, but he had not responded at press time.

  • Hoodlums attack petrol stations, injures 65-yr-old guard, others

    Hoodlums attack petrol stations, injures 65-yr-old guard, others

    Residents of Itamasa village in Ijofin, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, were thrown into panic on Monday February 9, 2015, when suspected hoodlums attacked two petrol stations, injuring a 65-year-old night guard, Hungbeme Asogba, and customers at the stations.

    The affected petrol stations are Exalt and Jokuns Petrol Stations.

    Asogba, who suffered machete cuts on his face and several parts of his body, is now receiving treatment in a hospital in Benin Republic. He was not allowed to speak with our reporter, who visited him in company with other sympathisers last weekend.

    Eyewitnesses said the hoodlums looted the petrol stations and carted away unspecified amount which was the proceed of the day’s sales.

    The hoodlums were said to have been led by one Samuel, who claimed to be collecting unsubstantiated fee for an amorphous association in the council area.

    Recalling the incident, the Manager of Jokuns Petrol Station, Mr Hunpevi Mathew, said the hoodlums who were armed with dangerous weapons swooped on the station and dispossessed customers and workers of money.

    “We were selling fuel to customers around 6.30 pm, when some members of the gang stormed our station and demanded for the payment of an unsubstantiated levy for selling fuel to customers. When they noticed that I was not going to accede to their demands , one of them handed his phone to me and asked me to speak with their boss called Samuel, but insisted that I would not talk to anybody because I am not the owner of the station. The hoodlums then forcibly took away some jerry cans of fuel from customers.

    “Again, the (hoodlums) returned in a Nissan car around 9pm same day, led by Samuel. They were armed with cutlass, axe and gun and they switched off our generator before unleashing terror on us. They hijacked a Ford bus from a customer and loaded it with fuel stored in several jerry cans and took away all the proceeds of the day’s sales. They also robbed many of our customers who were buying fuel at the time of the incident. We had to run for our dear lives.

    ‘’As a matter of fact, I trekked through the bush path to town, following which I contacted Ipokia Police Station for help. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the station immediately led his men to the scene and they searched everywhere for the missing bus that was stolen from our customers, all to no avail. It was much later that the bus was sighted in a particular place in the community, where it was abandoned by the hoodlums.”

    The Baale of Itamasa, Chief Suru Poviwhede, explained that Samuel and his boys had been terrorising petrol stations owners in the community lately.He recalled the incident: ”Samuel has become the nemesis of petrol dealers in our community and beyond. On the day of the incident, I received information around 6 pm that he (Samuel), was planning to invade the community and attack some filling stations. I quickly informed the Ololo of Ijofin, Oba Moruf Awode, and the monarch asked me to inform  one Titus Jide Oppressor, who Samuel claims to be his boss. When I spoke with Oppressor on the telephone, he said he was not willing to reprimand Samuel, because he was no longer under his authority. Oppressor added that he had warned Samuel to desist from harassing petrol station owners, all to no avail.

    “About 9pm on the day, distraught residents, who fled from the scene, informed me that Samuel had led his boys to attack workers and injured a guard at Exalt Petrol Station. They even raided some customers who were buying fuel into their vehicles and kegs. They were said to have also robbed customers and fuel attendants of a lot of money before moving to another petrol station called Jokuns, located in the neighbourhood. They vandalised the station, dispossessed customers and workers of the station of money and wounded a night guard and several others before stealing a Ford bus with number plate, XC 961 FST, from a customer.

    ‘’It was the DPO of Ipokia Police Station that took the night guard that was attacked with cutlass by Samuel and his gang to a hospital, while a number of customers and residents that also sustained various degrees of injuries are now being treated in various hospitals in Ipokia and Benin Republic.”

    It was gathered that Samuel is now at large, while nine members of his gang have been arrested and are now being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta, alongside their operational vehicle allegedly stuffed with dangerous weapons and three motorcycles.

    A source, who asked not to be named, explained that the residents of the community are yet to get over the shock of the attack.

    She said: ”My brother , we have not overcome the shock which the attack  by Samuel and his boys  has left in us. We fear he might regroup his boys and unleash terror on this community because the residents actually played an important role in apprehending some members of his gang when they were trying to escape after the attack.”

    Several attempts made by our correspondent to get Samuel’s response were futile as he did not respond.

    A female voice, who answered his call on Tuesday, claiming to be his wife said: “I am Samuel’s wife. He is not around now, he forgot his phone at home. Please drop your identity and comments and he would call you back when he returns.”

    Samuel did not revert to our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent,  Samuel’s lawyer, who simply identified himself as Barrister Jide, said his client was a concerned resident that was simply fighting against illegal sale of fuel to a ‘petrol smuggling syndicate’ in the community.

    “As a concerned resident, my client (Samuel) was miffed by the fact that some petrol dealers have been using their stations to perpetrate illegal sale of fuel to trans-border petrol syndicate.

    “He told me that he visited the two stations to prevent the nefarious transactions and that he was also wounded in the course of carrying out a ‘patriotic’ responsibility. He had lately written several petitions to various police formations and other law enforcement agencies without fruitful intervention. I have, however, advised him not to take laws in his own hands.”

    Confirming the incident, the spokesman of Ogun Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, explained that the command has arrested Samuel.

    He said: “ The man called Samuel, has been terrorising the community lately. It will be recalled that he carried out similar attacks on petrol station operators in the community last year. He is fond of attacking people violently and running to the police to claim that he was attacked. This is what he has also done in this case by lying to the police that he had been attacked, whereas he was the one that led his boys to attack people who were carrying out their transactions at the petrol stations. He went to the two petrol stations and attacked the people there, including a night guard, who sustained injuries and has been taken to a hospital by the police.’’

    The PPRO, however, said that the police could not jump into conclusion until the ongoing investigation is concluded.

    “The DPO of Ipokia Police Station said he was surprised to find out that contrary to Samuel’s statement, he was the one that actually attacked the two petrol stations. However, we have also arrested nine members of his gang that participated in the attack and they are now being held at the SCID, Eleweran, Abeokuta, where further investigation is ongoing,” Adejobi added.

    It will be recalled that Samuel was accused of complicity in the attack on Alpha Petrol Station, Ijofin on April 3, 2014, where a 70-year-old Pa Simeon Hunkokoe and his four sons who were the station’s attendants were attacked with cutlasses.

    Samuel was said to have stormed the petrol station to demand for the sum of N50,000 as ‘settlement’. Samuel and his gang were said to have been angered by the posture of one of the attendants called Mathew Hunkokoe, who asked for time to get clearance from the owner of the station on the telephone, hence, the gang attacked Mathew and his three brothers with cutlasses and dangerous weapons, while their father, who rushed to the scene to rescue his son, was also severely brutalised.

  • My brother was assassinated, sibling of slain Ondo doctor, Oguntuase, insists

    As the family and sympathisers of the late paediatrician, Dr. David Oguntuase, are anxiously awaiting the report of the post-mortem conducted by pathologists the last may not have been heard about the death of the former Acting Medical Director and Head of Paediatrics Unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owo.

    The late medical doctor died in an inferno that consumed his private clinic at Oke-Ibukun Area of Akure, the Ondo State capital on December 25, last year.

    Sources said samples of the remains of the late medical doctor have already been sent to the United States for further investigation.

    However, his elder brother, Otunba Ben Oguntuase,an engineer, insisted that the death of his 54-year-old sibling was through what he called well- planned assasination.

    The senior Oguntuase told The Nation that the body of the deceased  was cut into pieces before fire was set on the building that burnt him beyond recognition.

    He said: “Adetayo was number three to me in birth; he would have clocked 54 years on January 16, 2015.  His death is a personal feeling of huge loss to me.  I am overwhelmed by the bestiality of the extreme cruel act, which is beyond human comprehension.

    “From our findings and analysis of various photographs, some hired assasins were involved.  He was shot in the chest.  The killers struggled with him, laid him face down using butchers’ knives to cut several parts of his body.  They cut one foot on the left; they severed one of his hands a little above the elbows and cut it in order not to have any opportunity of survival.”

    Oguntuase said the burglary proof to the late doctor’s  office was forcefully removed and after cutting him into pieces, he alleged that the suspected killers sprinkled petroleum on his body and the whole building before they escaped by jumping into the neighbours’s house and escaped.

    His words: “My brother was killed via a planned assasination and this is against the claim of electric surge. In the first place, we learnt from neigbours that there was no electricity in the area in the past seven days; also the generator for the clinic was intact when we got there, no sign of any spark.

    “Our observation was that the deceased was about going home when the killers came; they locked the doors inside so that nobody could come for rescue mission.”

    Asked if the family suspected anybody of complicity in the incident, the 64-year-engineer said he is aware that the family was having a running battle with a  colleague over an issue.  The bereaved engineer said his late younger brother was an intelligent officer who had a stint with the Nigerian Navy (NN) and left in 2009 as Naval Commander.

    He decried the claim that the medical doctor died as a result of electric surge. Oguntuase, who said he had travelled widely, described the statement as strange and very funny.

    He, however, commended members of the Nigeria Medical. Association (NMA) for their support, particularly on their resolve to ensure the quick conduct of autopsy on late Oguntuase, after which they would release the body for burial.

    The late Dr. Oguntuase’s elder brother urged the police to quickly conclude its investigation on the matter.

    The Police spokesman in the state, Wole Ogodo, said investigation was progressing on the incident.

  • I shaved my long beard to avoid being recognised by those who know me as a cleric – Suspect

    I shaved my long beard to avoid being recognised by those who know me as a cleric – Suspect

    A 50-year-old suspect, Ramoni Adeleke, arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command for allegedly duping many people has said that he shaved his long beard and moustache to avoid being recognised by people who know him as a cleric. Also arrested are other members of his gang, including 70- year-old Alhaji Lekan Lanlegu a.k.a. Baba Toyota and 60-year-old Kolawole Odenide.

    A police source, who revealed how the three aged suspects were arrested, said the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Kayode Aderanti, had got a hint that they were involved in robbery and receiving of stolen cars. The CP promptly directed the Superintendent of Police in charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, and his team to get the three men and the stolen cars. SARS operatives, therefore, disguised as car snatchers who wanted to sell a stolen car to the gang.

    One of them came forward to collect the car. He had entered into negotiation with the SARS operatives before he realised that they were policemen. Meanwhile, Kyari and his men had cordoned off the spot and promptly arrested the would-be receiver.

    Lanlegu said it was one Kolawole Odenide, who supplied him with a stolen car. His arrest also led to the arrest of Adeleke at a private mosque he used as an office to dupe people and receive stolen cars. A cleric he was said to have employed to teach people in the mosque and lead prayers was said to have scaled the fence and ran away on sighting policemen.

    Adeleke, who described himself as a native of Ade village, Ade South Local Government Area, Osun State, said he was a transporter. He said he built a mosque and employed an alfa (Islamic cleric) to manage it.

    He said: “I live in Iba Estate near Lagos State University (LASU) along Badagry Road, Lagos. I am happily married with five children. I built a storey building at Iba and a mosque which I built with N300,000. I built the mosque to honour God and pray to him five times a day. That was 10 years ago.

    “In the year 2000, I started thinking of how to make quick money by stealing cars. I was jobless and had no money to feed my family. The man who lured me into car stealing died four years ago. I went to his house to seek advice on how to survive hunger and he taught me how to steal cars.

    “He told me that he survived by stealing cars and for 10 years, I stole cars and my poverty disappeared. We would go to a place where a car was parked and used a screw driver to open the door. We would dismantle the wiring and use the starter wire to start the engine.

    “While he drove the stolen car, I would drive his own car behind him to wherever he was going to sell, usually a place around Idimu, to an old man called Fatai, who is now late. After selling it for N100,000 then, he would give me N5,000 as my own share.

    “The late Fatai had a mechanic workshop, and it was there that I went to meet him that I needed money and he told me about stealing cars.

    “When Fatai died five years later, one Shina brought Kola Adeniji to me as a partner in crime. We operated more than five times before we were arrested. There was no gang leader between us. We were a twoman gang and anyone could bring a job.

    “Our last operation was at Oyigbo, Ebute Meta, Lagos around July this year. We stole one Pick-Up Hylux vehicle and sold it to one Alhaji Lekan for N700,000. I had to shave my beard in the cell to avoid people identifying me as a cleric.

    “I bought three commercial buses which ply Ijora-Obalende route, and each of them makes N4,000 return every day except Saturday and Sunday. I was arrested at Atede in Osun State while going to mosque.” The second suspect, Kolawole, said: “I am from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I am a property dealer in Ikorodu, a suburb of Lagos. I have two wives and seven children. I met Adeleke in Idi-Iroko, Ogun State when I was doing smuggling. I knew him through a friend called Shina.

    “I learnt about stealing cars about seven years ago. Whenever we opened a car door, tore the starting wire and it refused to start, we abandoned it in the belief that it had a security system. But at times, once you start the engine, the security system becomes useless.

    “I was once arrested and taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti. I was charged to court and remanded in prison for one week. I had gone on nine operations and stopped before I started again in January because of the economic situation in the country.”

  • ‘I graduated from pickpocket to robbery because I felt more secured as a robber’

    ‘I graduated from pickpocket to robbery because I felt more secured as a robber’

    A robbery suspect arrested by the Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, Ugochukwu Felix Nebuwe (28), has said that he started as a pickpocket before he graduated into armed robbery. The suspect said after only narrowly escaping being lynched together with his other members of his pickpocket gang, he decided to change from pickpocket to armed robbery.

    Nebuwe and three of his gang members who are now at large were said to have gone to a night club at Tin Can, Apapa area of Lagos and as they were returning home the following day, they saw a man trying to start his car. They rushed towards the man, forcibly took his car key and drove off.

    Unfortunately, by the time they got to Mile 2 area, information had gone to the police whose men mobilised and began to pursue them. They, therefore, abandoned the vehicle and fled. Unfortunately, Ugochukwu ran in a different direction and some boys in the area arrested him. Before handing him over to the police, they gave him the beating of his life.

    Nebuwe, who spoke with our reporter, said he hailed from Mgbidi village in Imo State and traded in refrigerators and electronics at the Alaba International Market.

    He added: “I used to stay with my parents at Igando (Lagos). My father retired as a chief driver at Futuro Construction Company. I stopped my secondary school education at Senior Secondary School 2 because I was too stubborn. I did not use to listen when they told me to stop fighting with people.

    “May be it is somebody that is doing this to me. I stopped schooling at SS 2 because of my stubbornness. I used to be too aggressive and when elders told me to stop fighting each time I had a little misunderstanding with people, I would not heed their advice.

    “It is a spiritual problem caused by somebody to undo my family because at times, after participating in armed robbery operation, I would begin to regret. Another thing that would show you that the hand of an enemy is in what is making me to behave like this is that if I want to sleep, I sleep in a tokunbo (fairly used) vehicle displayed for sale. The owner does not see me because before day break, I would go out, have my bath and go to the market to hustle.”

    Asked how he became a guest of the police, he said: “I started as a pickpocket. We used to be two or three doing it at clubs, bus stops, market places and even stadia. That was around 2004. My pickpocket counterparts were mostly Igbo and Edo boys. Some of them are dead while some are in prisons or police cells. Some of them died during police raids.

    “At Tin Can side of Ajegunle, I met a gang of ‘one chance’ robbers at a place we used to smoke. They were Obi, Stephen, Lukman and Okey. There is also one we call Ochari, a very short boy but very wicked. He was the one that usually pushed out victims from the moving vehicle.

    “They used to cheat me and would not give me raw cash when we were shairing our loot. They would tell me to wait until I mastered the work. They used to give me phones. Some of the members like Okey and Lukman, are dead now. As for the rest, I don’t know whether they are dead or in prison.

    “Every morning, they would call me to join them. We would call passengers like other commercial buses, but when we had got enough passengers, we would rob them and go home.

    “Our routes include Iyana-Iba, Mile 2, Tin Can and Mile 12. I used to sell the phones for N2,000 each, no matter the make or quality, because I didn’t want them to remain with me to avoid being tracked down through them. The moment I got the phones, I would remove the SIM cards and throw them on the main road.

    “I later left the gang when the police started tracking them down. Even some of them were arrested and charged to court. But after some months, I was down financially. The only option left for me to survive was to join a robbery gang.

    “I went back to the club because armed robbers liked to go there. There I met one Azubuike and another boy called Ijebu and IK. There was also a boy they called Afo. They told me that my suffering had ended and very soon I would get enough money to help myself.

    “On that fateful day, I did not know that they had already planned to rob on the way. As we left the club in the morning, I thought that they would drop me at Mile 2. We were all inside our operational Danfo bus. Immediately they saw a man washing his car in front of his house, which had no gate, they stopped, rushed towards the man and pointed a gun at him.

    ‘’The man shouted and area boys came out in great number and pursued us. They abandoned the car and ran away in the Danfo bus. I could not meet up with them hence they escaped and left me behind.

    “When the area boys saw me, they said I was one of them and started beating me. They would have left me when I tried to tell them that I was not one of them. But they got to the car they abandoned and discovered that one of the gang members had left his gun. They became annoyed and started pounding me. They later took me to Tolu Police Station.”

  • Group distributes free soap to rural dwellers

    To curb the spread of infectious diseases through hand washing, a non- governmental organisation, Thomas O. Women Network (TOWN) has distributed free soap empowered women and children in Ikate community, Lekki, Lagos State.

    Over 1000 rural dwellers were given soaps and other household items at the event tagged “Bathe a child, preserve a life”.

    The brain behind the initiative, Mrs Thomas Ogboja said:”TOWN manufactured soaps and we also collect used soaps left by guests in hotels to reproduce new soaps. Even though soaps usually contain antibacterial ingredients that kill germs, we will also recycle them so that they do not pose as health hazard to our beneficiaries.

    “TOWN is not selling the recycled soaps but distributing them to people free. We intend to educate less-privileged women in the society on the importance and benefit of ensuring they and their children maintain good hygiene.’’

    She noted that with regular hand washing with soap, 1.4 million deaths can be prevented each year and mortality rate will drastically be reduced. Foodstuffs, including rice, salt and clothes were later donated to the beneficiaries during the event.

  • Ogun customs posts N6b revenue, reads riot act to smugglers

    The Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has disclosed that it recorded revenue of N6 billion in 2014.

    Addressing journalists during the end of the year briefing in Idiroko,Ogun State, the Area Controller, Mr Haruna Mamudu, attributed the impressive performance in the command’s revenue generation drive and anti-smuggling campaign to the diligence and commitment of his men.

    He said: ” In detailing the activity for the period under review (December 2013-November 2014), the command collected N6,467,642,587.83, as against N5,390,662,512.53 collected same period in 2013. This shows a difference of N1, 076,980,075.00 and it is remarkable because this kind of revenue mark has never been attained in the command.

    “In the anti-smuggling canpaign, the command recorded 1,482 seizures between December 2013-November 2014, with Duty Paid Value(DPV) of N1,568,533,843.00 as against 1,226 seizures with duty paid value of N1,142,018,383.00 the command recorded in the same period in the year 2013. This shows a progressive seizure difference of 256 seizures with DPV of N426, 515,460.00.”

    He attributed the huge success recorded to the “quantum leap of the imported vehicles on which import duties were collected, which hitherto were smuggled into the country without payment of import duties and taxes. The unscrupulous importers are now reconditioned by the effective anti-smuggling campaign since I took over the affairs of the command in December 2013.”

    Mamudu explained that the anti-smuggling measures of the command had forced smugglers to resort to lawful declaration of imports and subsequent duty payment instead of risking seizure of their goods.

    He disclosed that five new operational vehicles have been given to the command to boost and enhance its operations.

    “It is noteworthy, that the present dynamic Nigeria Customs Service (NIS) is doing its very best to take the service to the next level. I am, therefore, delighted to announce to you that five new Hilux vehicles were recently allocated to the command for its operations and I want to thank the Comptroller General of Customs, Mr Dikko Abdullahi Inde, for this gesture. Let me use this forum to sound a note of warning to smugglers in Ogun State that we are now more equipped to tackle them, unless they renounce their illegitimate business of smuggling.”