Category: Crime Diary

A man has confessed to sponsoring armed robbers to rob trailers carrying goods and warehouses containing goods in Lagos, especially in the Apapa Wharf area.

He also confessed to procuring weapons for robbers and storing stolen goods in his two warehouses pending the time he would resell them to his customers.

The sponsor, known as Alhaji Taoreed Ayinla, 45, resides at Lukmun Street, Ilogbo-Ota, Ogun State, said: “I started buying stolen goods in 2010. One man called Sunny, also known as Hot, a dismissed soldier, brought goods which I paid N1.2million for at a time. Also at the same time I paid N3 million for goods brought by the same man.

“I have two warehouses and another house where I live. I used to keep stolen goods in my warehouses. I bought many stolen goods from many robbers last year,”Ayinla said.

On why he was arrested, he said he was the person sponsoring a gang of armed robbers arrested during a recent operation.

Describing the operation which led to his arrest, he said: “The gang members went to the Ajah area of Lagos and hijacked a trailer containing tin plates. They were in army uniforms. They armed themselves with dangerous weapons like daggers, guns and clubs. They took the tin plates to a native doctor, popularly called Alfa, who prayed for them. He was paid for offering the prayer. I was mentioned as their sponsor when they were being questioned by the police.”

The second suspect, Samuel Igwe, 38, from Akuma, Imo State, said: My job was to offload stolen goods. And I was always paid handsomely for the job.

On how he was arrested, he said: “Somebody called me to come to Masalasi Bus Stop at the Alagbado area of Lagos. When I got there, I saw an old man who approached me for a fresh deal. As I was going with the old man, some policemen (SARS operatives) in plain clothes arrested me”.

The third suspect, Bayo Gani, 52, said: “I was approached by Alfa in my shop. He told me that he had iron rods to sell. I bought some from him, and he was paid N350,000. Another supplier of stolen goods to me is one pastor whose name I could not recollect. He resides somewhere at the Gbagada area of Lagos and claims to be an importer.

The fourth suspect, Sunny Ozor, 37, from Ukele, Cross River State, said: “I am a dismissed soldier. I served in the Ojo Cantonment, Lagos. I was dismissed for escorting stolen goods. When I was dimissed I became frustrated, and I approached the gang members to be helping in escorting stolen goods. They told me how they got the goods. If I am released, I will not do it again. I used to wear only an army cap, but I don’t use dangerous weapons.”

On the total money he made since he started the job, he said had made up to N250,000. It was Taureed Ayinla gave us an operational bus. We gave him returns for the bus services .

“My role was to bring the driver and the conductor down. Immediately we brushed their motor with ours, they would like to come down and know the problem. They would be begging us.We would, therefore, find a way of robbing them of goods in the trailer,”Sunny said.

One of the nine suspects being detained by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, Kolawole Ajayi, has confessed that he learnt how to rob in Computer Village, Ikeja,Lagos three years ago.

He said he went to Computer Village to buy and sell phones and computers ,but could not make a headway because he had no enough capital to start on his own in a big way.

Later, he approached Emeka to help him get some phones and computers which he would sell in order to make a lot of money to start business on his own.

Instead of helping him, he took him to a beer parlour in Ikeja. There, he met a lot of criminals who lured him into robbery. He later dropped selling phones and faced armed robbery squarely.

Kolawole, aged 28, from Abeokuta, Ogun State, said: “It was at Computer Village that I learnt how to buy stolen goods.

“I was caught by the police in 2006 for buying stolen laptops. I was charged to the Igbosere Magistrate Court. I was later released on bail from Ikoyi Prisons. In 2007, I was remanded in Kirikiri Prisons for robbing shops of laptops and phones at gunpoint. I was taken to Ikeja High Court, and I was discharged and acquitted after spending two years in detention. I was arrested during the third robbery operation.

“I met members of my gang in Ikeja in May 2012. Their names are Italo, Femi, Sylvester and Lucky.

“There, we exchanged phone numbers and discussed how to carry out operations. We then went to a compound in Ketu. The gate was open, and we entered. We robbed people inside. We stole money and laptops. Later, we went to Ogudu to rob people of phones, jewellery and money. The robbery that dragged us into this trouble was the one we carried out at Dolphin in Lagos. Our informant was one Caro. She gave us information about a man and his wife. We climbed the gate.

“When we entered, we broke the door. We stole a lot of the family’s belongings,including jewellery.

The second suspect, Sylvester Okafor, aged 25,from Aniocha in Delta State, said: “I belonged to two gangs. I later left one . I participated in three robberies. They were all at Ikorodu, In one we snatched a car.”

The third suspect, Sobowale, aged 32, is from Ilesa, Osun State.He said: “My brother, Ayo, brought me to Lagos. I only participated in three operations. I was sent to Ikoyi Prisons for stealing a car. I spent four years there. I later repented. I am now a pastor.”

The fourth suspect, Femi Shosanya, 28, is from Shagamu in Ogun State. He said : “I was with Kolawole when we robbed a house in Magodo, Lagos. I was arrested, while Kolawole and others escaped. It was a terrible night.”

The fifth suspect, Lucky John, 38, from Efuru in Warri, Delta State. He said: “I am a driver. The owner of the bus I was driving rendered me jobless when he collected his bus from me. Later I joined the National Union of Road Transport Workers. It was when I had an accommodation problem that I met Kolawole at a night club. There, I was initiated into his gang. My role was to watch people passing in order to alert the gang, if there was a problem. I only robbed twice. First time, I was arrested in Ketu, Lagos . I was tortured. Later, I was released me. The second one was at Allen Avenue, Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos.”

The sixth suspect, Ebere Chukwu, 28, from Abia State, said: “I was driving a bus, and when it spoilt, I started looking for work. One of my friends asked me whether I could drive a taxi and I said yes. Later, he took me to Kolawole. Kolawole employed me. He later said I should prepare for a robbery operation. We carried out an operation at Ojota, I was given N3,000. It was during my second attempt to rob that was I was caught.”

The seventh suspect, Ugochukwu Okechukwu, 28, from Imo State, said: ”I had a problem, and I was sent to Ikoyi Prisons for six months. When I came out, I had nobody to stay with. I met a gang member, Italo (Lekan Shobowale), at a smoking joint at Oyingbo. He took me to Kolawole. We carried out three operations, two at Ojota and one at Magodo.”

The eighth suspect, Ali Mohammed, 30, from Kogi State, said: “I knew Kolawole before he was jailed. When he came back from prison, he stayed with me. I thought he was a yahoo yahoo boy. I participated in two operations.”

The ninth suspect, Chibueze Nkwocha, 27, from Awka in Anambra State, said: “I told my junior brother, Chijeoke, to assist me with some money to establish a small business. He asked me to come to Lagos. As I came to Lagos and called him on the phone, he was switched off. Later I met one Ndukwe. When I told him my problem, he arranged a robbery where I got N4,000.

“He later took me to Kolawole. In another operation with Kolawole, I got N2,000 because we were not completely successful. It was when Ndukwe told me of another robbery which I participated that I was caught.”

He swore he had given his life to Christ, and if released unconditionally, he would never rob again.

Commenting on the arrest of the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Manko, said when two of the suspects were transferred to the SARS from Dolphin Estate, the SARS used Kolawole to track down the rest of the gang members.

A suspected member of an 18-man robbery gang believed to have shot more than 10 policemen dead and collected their rifles has said that he took to armed robbery after his parents drove him away from home and he had to be brought up by a prostitute.

Gbenga Oni, a 27-year-old indigene of Gbongan, Osun State, said a regular customer of the prostitute became his foster father and later initiated him into armed robbery.

Speaking in a chat with our correspondent after he was arrested alongside eight other suspected members of the gang, Oni said: “My father and mother should be held responsible for my becoming an armed robber because they did not take care of me. Rather, they were lazy, poor and promiscuous.

“I was brought up by a prostitute who I ran to when my parents drove me away from our house after serious complaints from neighbours that they used to see me with bad boys roasting stolen fowls, smoking Indian hemp and going to hotels to sleep with prostitutes.

“It was one of the robbers called Bad Bullet, who patronised the prostitute, who became my guardian and lured me into armed robbery.”

Another suspected member of the gang, 25-year-old Ganiu Moshood aka Small, said five members of the 18-man robbery gang that shook some major cities in the South West, including Lagos, were responsible for the police officers who were shot dead during the gang’s various operations within the year.

Narrating his role in the robbery saga, Ganiu, a native of Itoko village, Ogun State, said he dropped out in primary five at Ahmed Primary School, Lagos because there was nobody to assist him. Frustrated, he became a bus conductor on the Iyana Ipaja-Sango route and made between N1,500 and N2,00 daily. However, he met a man called Gwoke, who introduced him to armed robbery.

Explaining how he met Gwoke, he said: “I was on duty one day, calling passengers. On getting to Abule Egba, I started collecting fares from passengers. In the process, Gwoke gave me N1,000. I told him that I had no change yet but he said I should hold the N1,000 and look for my balance. I told him to be patient till we got to Ifo.

“When we got to Ifo, I returned his N1,000 to him and started calling passengers. The following day, I saw Gwoke again at Ifo and he asked me whether I was not the boy who returned his N1,000 to him the previous day and I said yes. He then told me to see him the following Sunday. We exchange, phone numbers.

“On the appointed date, I called him on the phone and he told me where to meet him. I met him at a smoking joint. After smoking, he gave me N5,000. I was very happy and was dreaming of seeing him again because the N5,000 he gave me made me to feed well, buy some clothes and still had some money left.

“On another day, he called and told me to meet him on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, between Pakoto and Ifo. When I got there, he asked me to enter his jeep. As I entered, I saw six men in the vehicle with their AK47 rifles fully loaded. I was afraid and wanted to run away but he shouted at me to sit in their midst in the jeep.

“He then asked why I was afraid of his men and I told him that I was no longer afraid. It was about 6.40 pm. They told me that I would do some work for them that day. He told them that I was his brother and that he wanted the gang to brush me up. He was the one driving.

“We drove to Akute part of Lagos. They told me that my role would be to collect victims’ valuable property like phones and laptops during operations. Later, they saw a man in an SUV, pursued him and collected the car from him.

“After the operation, they gave me two Nokia phones and N15,000 cash. I was very happy because I had never held N15,000 since I started working as a bus conductor. I later sold one of the phones for N5,000, bringing the total money I had to N20,000.

“I started thinking of how to rent a house. A certain boy called Pure Water told me not to worry because his father had a mud house at Ago-Owu, a village in Abeokuta. I got a room for N7,000 per year and I later repainted the room. I was very happy with my new financial status because I had never held money in bundles. As a conductor, I used to get N2,000 a day, but now, money was coming in bundles.

“On another day, Gwoke called me to come and drive them. He said they wanted to take somebody to Sango. When I met them, they put me in the boot of the jeep. We became six in the jeep. They collected two cars and some money. They gave me N20,000 and told me to be careful.

“Yet another day, they called me. On getting to them, I saw Gbenga, Aluko and one Ope. We drove towards Papa area and Mowe where they entered a filling station. They fired several shots, robbed people there and collected a car. They later dropped the car because it had no fuel.

“As we were going, Ope said there was work in Abeokuta. When we got to Abeokuta, they fired some shots in the air and all the vigilance men ran into hiding. We then entered a church and used sledge hammer to open the gate. We did not know that policemen had been alerted. We opened fire on the people at the gate and got a police officer and snatched his rifle.

“They later dropped me at Jabet filling station at Pakoto town. They collected up to four rifles after killing some policemen. Ejike liked to kill policemen. He took over the gang’s leadership from Gwoke. When Gwoke called to know where we were, he told him to come to Ajah. At Elegushi beach, we shared the AK47 rifles and magazines. Gwoke told me not to worry because he would still get the leadership back from Ejike. We later went somewhere at Lekki and operated. There, Ejike fought Dada for raping victims’ wives.

“One day, we were at Iyana Koku in Ifo planning an operation when policemen came and arrested Aluko. I did not know that Aluko had been arrested. The following day, I called him on the phone and he told me that he was with a woman and that I should come and collect N20,000. But on getting there, I was arrested.”

Asked why he could not disappear when the police wanted to arrest him in spite of the charm they claimed had been given by a witchdoctor, he said, “The native doctor who did the charm for me is a fraudster. I thought the charm was working until I started seeing what AK47 rifle was doing to people who tasted its bullet.

“I was the personal assistant to Gwoke, our gang leader. It was one of our members called Tinue who collected guns from policemen any time we shot some of them who dared challenge us during operations. We did not kill innocent policemen. Dada and Tosin used to bring bad luck to us in some operations because of the way they used to rape the wives and daughters of victims.

The third suspect, Sheyi Oduola Aluko (33), a native of Ilesha, Osun State, said he was a cobbler and resided in Owode Ijako area, Ogun State. Married with three children, he said he attended Saint James’s Primary School, Idi-Ape, Abeokuta.

Narrating his role in the gang, he said: “I knew Ganiu Moshood very well. We attended the same primary school and resided in the same area in Abeokuta. Later, say for about 20 years, I was no longer seeing him.

“Last year, I saw him with a boy called Abey aka Pota. He is a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, doing ticketing. He asked what my mission was and I told him that I was hawking Indian hemp. On another day, I met them at Old Bank Bus Stop in Ifo. Gwoke told me to meet him the following day in Abeokuta where fish was being sold. When I got there, he gave me N5,000 and told me to go round where people were selling fish and survey the place for the operation they wanted to do.

“I later called him on the phone and told him that the market was okay. He asked me to wait for them at Jabet Filling Station at Pakoto town. From there, we went to Mowe and entered a filling station where we collected two police rifles. We entered a church. Echo used a sledge hammer to break the gate and the doors. Dada was shooting. We were 11 in number. It was an Apostolic Church. Policemen later came and Dada shot them and collected their rifles.”

On how he was arrested, he said: “I did not know that policemen were after us. The O/C SARS, Abba Kyari, used my girlfriend to track me down. On that fateful day, I was in a bunk, smoking Indian hemp. They told my girlfriend, a prostitute in one of the hotels in Sango, Ogun State, to call me on the phone. She said somebody wanted to marry her and had been disturbing her and that the person wanted to collect her number.

“I had planned to marry the prostitute when I settled down. So, when I heard that somebody was planning to snatch her from me, I was not happy and I decided to stop the person. I rushed to Sango to see the person only to fall into the hands of SARS operatives who were waiting for me to enter their trap.

“Police later searched my house and Gani’s house and recovered some rifles and magazines.”

The fourth suspect, Oluwasegun Oyebanji, a 29-year-old native of Oro, Kwara State, said: “I was lured into armed robbery by one Abey Olayinka two years ago. It is a six-man gang made up of Abey aka Godogodo, Tosin, Osun, Akpo, Oluwole and Segun.

“I worked with an insurance company three years ago. I followed them to operate at Ojodu/Berger. We snatched a jeep and found N5million cash in it. We did not kill the victim and we did not know that he was carrying N5million. It was just luck.

“I also followed them to operate in Ibafo, Victoria Island and Ajah where we did house breaking. We also operated in Badagry where we attacked a bullion van and collected eight AK47 rifles belonging to policemen we shot dead.

“It was only one day I was asked to go and keep the gang’s guns at a mechanic workshop at Apapa road area. I was a driver to the gang. I also participated in a bank operation two or three years ago. We were 11 on that day. I escaped with one Alhaji.

“I was arrested on Tuesday. I was driving towards Oshodi from Iyana Ipaja, I did not know that SARS operatives had laid an ambush for us. They ordered us to stop but I tried to reverse the car. The police opened fire on us. It got me at the waist and leg and I became weak. I could not use my rifle. The receiver with me then, one Muyiwa, even escaped.”

The fifth suspect, Ofulire Paul (26) said he was arrested in the house of his friend. He said he did not know that his friend was an armed robber and he merely went to visit him when SARS operatives came to arrest him. His friend managed to escape but he was arrested and asked to produce his friend.

The sixth suspect, Shola Ayodele (30) an indigene of Ilesha, Osun State, said he became an armed robber the day he started smoking Indian hemp. He said it was at a smoking joint that the gang asked him to follow them to go and collect money. He said because he was under the influence of Indian hemp, he could not say no to them. It was after the operation that his eyes cleared and he realised that it was an armed robbery operation that he had participated in.

The seventh suspect 22-year-old Ogbonnaya Ekweonye from Aba, Abia State said: “I joined the robbery gang to make money. A very small boy called me a poor boy. I decided not to remain a poor man. I decided to change level fast and the easiest way was to carry ‘cold steel’ (gun). I participated in the Ekiti bank robbery where we netted N20 million and I was given N400,000 as my own share.

“I belonged to Ejike’s gang. The other three gangs were those of Musa, Gwoke and Paul. But in more serious operations, like the one we did in Ekiti, we used combined teams. We picked men from the four gangs. That was why we used to be up to 11, 20 or more in a combined gang operation.

The eighth suspect, Taofeek Mumuni, a 48-year-old native of Odogbolu, Ogun State, said: “I am an ex-convict. I spent one year in Ikoyi Prisons. It was my lawyer who perfected my release because I was still awaiting trial. I was in Ejike’s gang. I learnt ‘criminology’ in Ikoyi Prisons. We called the Ikoyi Prisons ‘State University’ while the Kirikiri Maximum Prison is ‘Federal University’. The lecturers there are senior inmates convicted for armed robbery, fraud, arson, murder and those awaiting trial on serious offences. The prison does not reform us. Rather, it hardens us. The only thing we gain in prison is smartness.

The ninth suspect, Yemi Oyedele (26), from Oshogbo, Osun State, said: “I am a painter. I belong to Godogodo’s gang. It was Dada, Ejike and others who shot policemen dead and Tinue collected their rifles.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, said eight of the police rifles snatched by the robbery suspects had been recovered. He vowed to track down the remaining members of the gang still at large.

He thanked members of the public for giving useful information to the police, adding: “There is no hiding place for the suspects at large. It is better for them to surrender themselves and go to prison than wait for the scorpions to sting.”

He managed to escape while his partner was arrested by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command after a robbery operation they allegedly carried out in a supermarket at Alaba International Market on November 5. Adekunle Yusuf a.k.a. Fever has, however, been arrested by SARS operatives

Yusuf was tracked down at a beer parlour following a directive by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, to Abba Kyari, the Superintendent of Police in charge of SARS that the suspect must be fished out.

Narrating his role in the robbery incident, 22-year-old Yusuf, who claimed to be an indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State, said he became an armed robber because of the the heavy responsibility he bore as the family breadwinner after his father died.

He said: “I am the first son of my father who retired as a contractor. He had four wives and left 10 children behind. I was packaging CP plates at the Alaba International Market and also helped in off-loading containers. Those were the years between 2000 and 2010.

“I used to make about N5,000 daily. A carton was packaged for N100. By the time I packaged 50 cartons, I smiled home with N5,000. That was apart from about N2,000 I used to get from offloading containers. With a daily income of N7,000, I was able to do my best for the family my father left behind.

“But at a point, I started finding it difficult to even make up to N500 daily. I started thinking of what to do to meet up. It was this situation that made me to become a pickpocket at Alaba International Market. The amount I made as a pickpocket on a daily basis depended on how much the victim had on him. But I made nothing less than N10,000 daily. There were days I would be so lucky that my fingers would come out with as much as N50,000 from an individual’s pocket.

“With these, I was able to pay the school fees of four of my siblings and still had enough money to give each of the wives that were still living in my father’s house, because some of them remarried and others went their different ways to survive the economic realities of the time. Even my own mother remarried and had three children for her new husband.

“I used to operate at popular bus-stops during the rush hours. But when passengers started holding their purses, phones and bags in their hands while rushing to get buses, the amount I used got on a daily basis reduced as access to big money became nearly impossible. That affected my income and almost rendered me penniless.

“My journey into the world of armed robbery then started when I decided to go to Alaba-Rago field opposite Alaba International Market to while away time by watching football. It was on one of such occasions that I met the man who lured me into armed robbery. The man is popularly known as Old Man but his real name is Tony Aboose. He is a native of Benin, Edo State.

“On that day, he introduced me to some guys, namely Emma, Opia and Tajudeen (TJ). He told me that I would be going out with them in the night to look for money and property with reasonable monetary values. When I demanded to know what that meant, he said it was the kind of night operation done by armed robbers, and that he wanted me to be a member of his gang. He showed me his locally made pistol and told me that Emma also had his own pistol.

“I did not know what later came over Tony and Emma to the extent that Emma no longer followed us to operations.

“My first operation with the gang took place in Badagry area. On that fateful day, we attacked some occupants of some face-me-I-face-you buildings. We robbed about three buildings. Most of the tenants who did not open their doors when we knocked were made to regret it, because not only did we use our legs to blow their doors open, we gave them the beating of their lives. We, however, did not shoot any of them. We operated with Aboose’s gun.

“I used to stand outside the building during an operation to watch out for security men. We used to be five number, including Opia, Aboose and Tajudeen and Emma. We adopted division of labour during operations. Somebody was in charge of ransacking the house under attack. Another person was in charge of collecting money and phones. We called him exhibit keeper. Another watched our back while another was responsible for torturing victims just to make them release money.

“We had a buyer called John. We used to call him on the phone to tell him where he would meet us after an operation. It was Tony (Aboose) that usually called him. Emma’s work was to search the rooms and collect whatever item could be sold quickly. We used to ask John to meet us at Afolabi, Igando Road. At other times, we asked him to meet us at Lagoon Hotel where Olise worked as a bar man.

“I used to buy food, drinks and cigarettes for Olise. But it was Old Man (Aboose) who normally bought food for him. We only entertained Olise as our gang’s friend. He knew that we used to do runs. When he had financial problems, he decided to join our gang.”

“Asked how Olise became the gang’s member, Yusuf said: “Our gang leader Tony (Aboose) aka Old Man, was chatting with him in the hotel one evening and, along the line, he told Tony that he needed money to pay for his house rent. He (Aboose) directed him to me, saying that I should take him to work with us so that he would get some money to pay his rent.

“That was how he followed us to the supermarket. But he was full of bad luck, as he was the only person arrested when the supermarket girl ran outside and raised the alarm. He did not know the terrain very well. He ran into a canal and, instead of remaining there, he came out and entered an uncompleted building where the people around, including vigilance men, questioned him and he could not defend himself.

“Even when Old Man (Aboose) phoned him, his phone that was ringing was later switched off. That was when we suspected that he was in trouble.

“Before we entered the supermarket on that day, Old Man told me that we had to go and look for money and that Olise should follow us. I knew Olise through his younger brother, Femi, who an iron bender who works with a lottery company now. Old Man said Olise’s house rent had expired and he wanted us to carry him along.

“Immediately we entered the supermarket, Old Man brought out his gun and pointed it at the lady attendant, telling her to cooperate. We packed about N96,000. As we came outside, he started shooting to scare away people who had been attracted by the sales girl’s alarm.

“There are two escape routes from the supermarket. We ran into Alaba International Market. As I was running, I saw Old Man also running after me. When Old Man had caught up with us, we stopped and called Olise but his phone was switched off. When we entered Sowemimo Street, we stopped and saw some children. I asked one of the children to run to the supermarket area and find out whether a thief had been arrested.

“The children came back and told us that a mob had caught a small man. We immediately knew that it was Olise. To show appreciation for a job well done, Old Man gave N6,000 to the children.

“The following day, I called Old Man and asked him what I should do next as Olise’s had been handed over to the police and we would attract SARS’ attention. It was a Friday. I met Abu and asked him to buy food for me. As I washed my hand to start eating, I saw the Lagoon Hotel Manager, the Disco Jockie (DJ) of the hotel and three fully armed plain clothe policemen. They approached me and asked if I was Fever. I said yes. They told me that I was under arrest. They put me in handcuffs and took me away. It was when I reached Scorpion House that I realized that they were SARS operatives.”

Asked why people do not know when their pockets are picked, Yusuf said: “It is not a magic. Some people are so much in a hurry when they are rushing to enter a bus that even if you put all your hands in their pockets they would not know. If we succeed in getting his money before he enters the bus, we would have no need to enter the bus.

“But if we enter the bus before successfully picking the victim’s pocket, we would alight at the nearest bus stop, because if the victim realises that his pocket has been picked and he raises the alarm, it would take only the grace and mercy of God for us to escape being lynched by irate passengers.

“At times, the bus drivers and conductors knew us very well. They used to cooperate for security reasons. Picking people’s pocket is not a magic. It is made possible by victims who are insensitive to their pockets when they are in a hurry. Therefore careless people are usually the victims and they are the ones who make us to get our daily bread.”

Asked how many operations he had participated in, he said: “To tell the truth, I can’t count them. It is more than 48 times. The total money I made was N250,000, but I am left with no kobo now because I used it to feed my late father’s family and to pay the school fees of my brothers and sisters. Two of them are in school while two others are learning different trades. “My mother is the eldest wife and she is no longer with my father. She got married to another man in Ogun State and had four children for him. The last two are twins. The second wife sells ogogoro (local gin) at Igboelerin Junction in Okokomaiko area. The third stays alone at Abule Osun, Mile 2, while the fourth sells orange at Igbo elerin.”

On his part, Olise, who recalled that he had worked in the hotel for two years, said he was arrested because he did not know the terrain well.

He said: “As I came out from the swamp, I entered an uncompleted building, and because I looked rough, the people started asking me where I was coming from. They later called the supermarket girl and she identified me as one of the robbers. They beat me.

“My monthly salary at Lagoon Hotel was N10,000. I am a mere primary school certificate holder. It was free drinks that made me to join the gang.”

The Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, said SARS operatives were still on the trail of Old Man.

The wife of a suspected leader of a kidnapping gang, Mrs Eno Joseph, has said that her role as a member of the gang was to prepare food for victims.

Confessing her role in the gang in an interview with our correspondent, the 25-year-old indigene of Uduan, Akwa Ibom State, said: “I knew my husband, Victor, as far back as 2007. I had a child for him but the child later died of chicken pox.

“Our journey into trouble started when my husband told me that he wanted to go into kidnapping and that he wanted me to have an input into the business. I told him that I saw trouble coming, but he said what I saw was not trouble but a lot of money coming our way. He said he got his inspiration to go into kidnapping from a guy called ID, whom he said had given him N1 million.

“Since I could not convince him to return the money and we were experiencing a lot of financial problems, I told him that I would need a part of the money to open a shop. In March last year, I was sleeping in our house at about 2 am when the police came and arrested me and my husband. My husband told me to be courageous, saying it had happened and we had to pay the price.

“The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), who arrested us, charged us to court. They said I collected robbery money. We were later remanded in prison.

“While I was in prison, my sister came and said one lawyer had arranged how we would regain our freedom. When we came back from prison, I decided to go into petty trading to assist my husband financially.

“I hate trouble, but my husband would not listen. He later went with his friends to go into kidnapping again. My husband called me one day and sat me down. He told me to listen very carefully. He said some friends of his were coming to the house and I should not go anywhere.

“On that fateful day, I was in our parlour between 9pm and 10pm watching the television when he and his friends came in with a total stranger. I asked him who the man was and why they had brought him to the house. I told them I had just left the prison yard and did not want to go back to jail so soon.

“I told my husband to take the man back to where they had brought him from, but he begged me to exercise some patience. It was in the process of exercising patience that I started my role as the food provider.

“I first went to the market to buy ingredients with which I would make good soup. Apart from cooking for the victims and providing water for them to bathe even though their legs were in chains, I also kept them company, cracked jokes with them and made them to have the hope of seeing their families after paying the necessary ransom.

“At a point, I became sympathetic to one of the victims and started planning how to assist him to escape. I was the one that opened the door for him to find his way before my husband and others who were deeply asleep would wake up.

“When he had escaped, I kept the door open and went to fetch water. When I came back, they told me that the victim had escaped. They asked me why I opened the door for him to escape and I told them that I did not know that the door was open because I was hurrying to fetch water. I lied to them because they were very angry over the victim’s sudden disappearance.”

Asked why she did not report the incident to the police if indeed she did not want to be a party to the man’s abduction, she said it was risky to do so. “If I had reported to the police, I would have been thrown into the police cell and it would have been difficult for me to secure my bail because the police would want to use me to arrest other members of the gang,” she said.

Asked how the chain on the legs of the victim were removed, she said: “I don’t know. What I did was to keep the door open for him. How he removed the chain is what I don’t know.”

The second suspect, Victor Sunday (34), a native of Etinang Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, said: “She (Eno) is my wife. We have been married for five years now. Although I am yet to pay her bride price, both of us agreed to be husband and wife. Every other thing is mere formality. The important thing is love.

“I had a workshop before I joined a company on Victoria Island, Lagos. I did automobile engineering. I joined the company in 2006. I left because I was trained as an installation agent but there was no money there. Hence, I joined another company also on Victoria Island.

“At a point, I became frustrated with my job because my company could not generate enough money to pay its staff. It was in that mood that one Idon Eseng aka ID, a taxi driver, met me and introduced me to kidnapping.

“ID told me that if I could bring a victim from the company where I was working, I would get big money to take care of myself and my wife. That was how we arranged the kidnap of one Mr. Adebayo, a director in the second company where I worked. I was the one who identified the director. The man’s relations later paid N13 million but my share was one million naira.

“I later bought two vehicles with the money. I bought one bus for commercial purposes and one SUV for pleasure ride. Then my enemies saw me and became jealous. They reported me to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Umar Manko, who immediately ordered the O/C SARS, Abba Kyari, to fish us out.

“I know my jealous friend who reported me, because when I came back, I found that when he asked me to give him N500 to drink beer, I told him that I had no money. He said he heard that we did one job that paid, but I insisted that I had no money. He then vowed to inform CP Umar Manko or O/C SARS SP Abba Kyari.

“I was arrested in March last year and taken to SARS office. I was later charged to court. The case that took me to court was that of the Federal SARS. I spent about eight months in Ikoyi Prisons. While I was in the prison, one of the inmates introduced me to a lawyer and I followed his instruction. He said he would assist me to come out.

When I came out, I started looking for job. I moved out from where I was living in Oshodi because I knew that if we were reported to SARS, their first port of call would be my house. I moved from 3, Oremeji Street, Oshodi to 42, Matokun Road, Lambe, Ogun State.

“There I called a friend in prison, named Emma, a native of Akwa Ibom State. I asked if he knew anybody who could get me a gun for a job we had in our hand. He linked me up with one Mr. Joseph who came with a locally made gun in company with two other men.

“So, we went to Okota in Lagos where we got the victim in his car. His car attracted us because it showed that the man was wealthy. We followed him to his house. As he wanted to go into his house, we approached him, showed him the gun and he melted. What we did next was to order him to enter our own vehicle, a Nissan Sunny car.

“Out of the four of us, three went in to ransack the house. We brought the man out of the house, seized his Samsung handset, N2,000 cash and his car. We later took him to my house on Matogun Road, Okearo, Ogun State.

“On our way, we gave him dark glasses to wear because we did not want anybody to identify him. It was at about 9 pm. We chained him in the leg and kept him inside. It was one of our members called Joseph who negotiated for ransom between the family and the gang. Joseph was on the phone contacting the family

“The victim stayed in my house for six hours. My wife was giving him food and water to bathe. The victim was able to escape because we were sleeping while watching. How he removed his chains and opened the door is still a mystery to us.

“All of us left the place immediately and relocated because of his escape. I called my wife and David. The house is a two-bedroom flat. I rented it for N65,000 per year in September.”

The third suspect, Eteh Mbong Udo (27), a native of Ikot Epene, Akwa Ibom State, said he was an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider around Ojodu Grammar School, Lagos.

He said: “I became a member of the gang last year. I was introduced to the gang by a fellow okada rider called ID. He bought a car and graduated to taxi driver, operating in the same area.

“He called me on the phone to meet him and take him somewhere. I did so three times. It was under the Berger Bridge that he asked me to wait for him. He later came with a polythene bag and I went and dropped him at Akiode Bus Stop, Ojodu. He gave me N50,000.

“Later this year, his wife called me and told me that we should plan about kidnapping to make big money. I became afraid and told her that I had not done such a thing before. She then asked me to be a man and that only cowards don’t take risks while only those who take risks make it in life.

“She then told me that the reason I was given N50,000 was for me to be part of the gang and work with them. I told her that I wanted to travel to my state. While I was in Calabar, he was calling me on the phone for two days, telling me that they had succeeded in the kidnapping job.

“A day later, she called again and said the victim had escaped. I had been with ID for seven years and I knew that he used to do robbery jobs, but I did not join him at that time.”

The fourth suspect, David Udom (27), a native of Anang, Akwa Ibom State, said: “I am an okada rider. I was arrested because they said I was among the gang. I was only taking Madam ( Victor’s wife) to the market to buy ingredients with which she prepared food for victims. I had not been paid a kobo before I was arrested.”

The Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, said the force would not rest until the suspects were all fished out.

AN ex-convict, 34-year-old Nmaduabushi Ngoka, a native of Umuruko village, Nnewi South Local Government Area, Anambra State, has said that he became a hardened criminal after spending one year in Ikoyi Prisons in 2010. The prison, he said, is like the university for criminals where they learn a lot of lessons from experienced inmates.

Ngoka was the second-in-command of a nine-man robbery gang who usually hired two soldiers whenever they wanted to go on a robbery operation or hijack a truck in Lagos, and was among the three suspects arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command recently.

The two other suspects are John Ogbu (32), a native of Nkalaha village in Isielu Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, and Kelvin Ikejiaku, also 32 years old. They both confessed to the crime for which they were arrested.

Narrating his involvement with the gang, Ngoka said he had planned to get married after two or three operations when he came out of prison. “I wanted to do society wedding which would cost me nothing less than N1 million.

“I am a trader in Ladipo Market, Mushin. I deal in automobile antennas. Although I don’t have a shop, I display my goods on a table in front of No. 2, Akinwumi Street in Ladipo Market while I reside at Oke-Odo Ishawo area, Agric Bus Stop, Ikorodu.

“My life had been full of ups and downs. My parents were poor people in the midst of rich people in our community. To break the poverty circle in my family, I decided to learn the art of buying and selling auto spare parts and car antennas from a man called Emmanuel Udokwu in Ladipo Market, Mushin, Lagos.

“I graduated in 1999 and started my own business. I traded for about one year but could not make anything. The gain I made was barely enough for transportation and food. I could not even pay the rent for the one room I lived in.

“There were nights I had to go to the canal in the market to sleep. Many of us who didn’t have houses or could not afford a room gathered there to smoke, drink and pass the night. That was where I got to know that some so-called big guys in Ladipo Market were involved in various criminal activities and they were so dangerous that policemen could not challenge them.

“I later decided to get close to those of them who were into illegal oil bunkering. But I had to relocate to Ikorodu. I was doing very well in oil bunkering before the operatives of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) arrested us and charged us to Ipaja Magistrate Court for oil bunkering, conspiracy and armed robbery. We were sentenced to one year imprisonment in Ikoyi in 2010.

“At the prison, I met many hardened criminals serving various terms of imprisonment. It was like a university. We learnt from the experiences of other inmates who were convicted for armed robbery, diversion of trucks and other offences. Every evening in the prison, we gathered to receive lessons from experienced inmates who narrated their exploits in armed robbery and other crimes before they were sent to jail.

“I was arrested on February 3, 2010 and I spent four months in Federal SARS cell and was later charged to Tapa Court. We were four in number, namely Iyan, Trogbenu, UK and Innocent, all Ijaw men. I came out of prison on February 16, 2012 and went back to Ladipo Market to continue my trade in car antennas and other accessories.

“Life was very difficult for me but I did not want to do anything that would send me back to prison. Unfortunately, I met Emeka and he introduced me to diversion/hijacking crime. It was in Ikoyi Prisons I had first met him and we later met at Ladipo Market canal where we gathered to smoke Indian hemp. He told me that his gang wanted to collect a trailer load of goods from Tin Can Island and he would like me to bring in buyers. I accepted.

“At Tin Can Island, he introduced me to John Ogbu with who he said he had been working in diversion and hijacking business. They also said they would want me to sponsor them any time they wanted to carry out an operation by providing the money for fuel, drinks and groundnuts (bullets).

“The first time, I gave them N25,000 but they went and did not succeed. They did not refund the money. I felt bitter over the failure of the operation, but Ogbu later introduced me to another gang led by Chidiebere and Johnson when Emeka died after a brief illness.

“We later did two jobs. One of them was armed robbery while the other was hijacking. We started enjoying life, going to clubs, carrying women and drinking. Life became sweet for me and my friends, Chidiebere and Johnson.

“I bought a bus which I kept at a mechanic workshop in Ikorodu. I repaired it and gave it to Chidiebere and Johnson. One day, as they were on a pleasure drive, they hit a private bus and were dragged to Morogbo Police Station. They are still there.

“The day they wanted to do the freezer job, Ogbu brought the bus. When I gave them N10,000 for fuel and called Johnson, he said I should give him his own N10,000 so that he would give it to his pregnant wife to take care of herself before going out for the job. But I told Johnson that I had no extra N10,000 to give him. So, he could not follow them to carry out the operation. Hence, it was Dickson, Chima and their gang members that carried out the operation.

“After they had operated under the Liver Pool Bridge at Apapa, they called me on the phone that the consignment (freezers) was ready at a warehouse very close to Guinness at Agege. On getting there, I entered the warehouse and saw the freezers.

“The buyer later brought two vehicles, and as they were loading them, I counted the freezers and by my own reckoning, there were about 130 of them. I asked Kelvin Ikejiaku, a brother from the same village, to escort one of the vehicles while I followed the other.

“We headed to Benin, Edo State, parked at Uruku and lodged in a hotel. The same afternoon, the buyer Nosa Ohanu, came and carried the two vehicles. Before they left, they gave me N200,000 and later gave me another N780,000, totalling N980,000.

“Later, John kept calling me on the phone for about two weeks before I was arrested that one driver wanted to sell some seasoning and that he needed to hold some money. I told him that I was expecting some money for that day. I had wanted to give him N2,000, not knowing that he was helping SARS to track us down.

The second suspect, Ogbu, who said his wife was already more than eight months pregnant at the time he was arrested, said he was selling male clothes when he came down to Lagos from the village in 2000.

He said: “I was doing well and managed to raise money for visa and travelled to China in 2009. In 2011, I was repatriated back to Nigeria because my visa expired. When I landed at the Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, I thanked God that it was not because of drug that I was repatriated.

“I later went to Oshodi to start trading along the road, not knowing that those that were trading along Oshodi Market road had been driven away and the place had been beautified. I reside at Ayobo and continued the sell clothes I imported from abroad.

“My business was booming until customs men seized my goods; about 3000 pieces at Owode, Badagry side, Lagos. To make matters worse, armed robbers attacked me and robbed me of the little money in my hand. I had no money to send to China for them to continue to send clothes to me. When I explained to my business partners in China that I was robbed, they thought I was lying.

“Frustrated, I moved into Ladipo Market proper. It was while I was thinking of how to survive that I met one Timothy Denison who is late now. I met him on Lagos Island and he introduced me to hijacking and and armed robbery.

“Concerning the hijacking of a trailer load of deep freezers under the Liverpool Bridge at Apapa, they called me for it but I told them that I was not interested since my wife was pregnant and I had to find money quickly elsewhere because she was close to being delivered.”

At this point, some members of the gang intervened, saying that Ogbu was lying and asked him to tell the truth because he participated in the operation. He then revealed the other operations he participated in before the hijacking of freezers. He said before Denison died, they did two operations together. The first, he said, was the hijacking of lorry loads of groundnut oil and rice.

The third suspect, Kelvin Ikejiaku, said he was selling phone accessories in Maiduguri, Borno State for more than 10 years before he had a problem with the Boko Haram sect.

He said: “One Thursday night, I was eating near my house at about 8 pm when a strange number called my phone. I listened to the background voice and found that they were speaking Hausa language, saying that they would deal with me. I was afraid. I came back to Lagos and stayed with my in-law on Jakande Estate, Okota.

“One day, Abuchi called me on the phone. When I got there, we discussed because he is my village person. I told him that I would be travelling to Onitsha in three days time and he said it was okay. Two days later, he called and said I should meet him at Iyana Paja Bus Stop. He later took me to somewhere on a motorcycle and asked me to help him in counting some freezers.

“The buyers of the freezers did not come on time. So, Abuchi advised me to go home and come back on the following day. The following day, a buyer came with a 10-tyre truck and I saw Dickson. He collected N30,000 from Abuchi and promised to send another money like N5,000 through the account Dickson was operating. Dickson sent the number through my handset and he later collected my own number through my friend, saying any time I deposited money in the account, Abuchi would collect it and I would tell him that Abuchi had collected it.

“While Abuchi counted 67 deep freezers the buyer said he counted 63. Later, Abuchi ordered me to follow the vehicle to Benin so that I could count the freezers again and know the actual number. When we got to Benin, the buyer said I should not follow him to the warehouse where they intended to offload the goods. I then called Abuchi to inform him about the development but Abuchi said I should leave them.

“The buyer took me to Zafic Hotels and paid N5,000 for a night. The following morning, Abuchi arrived Benin with the second vehicle. The next day, Abuchi gave me N21,000 for transport and feeding, pending the time he would receive the balance.”

On how he was picked up by SARS operatives, he said he was escorting his brother, Abuchi, to Nkpor Junction to meet Ogbe who was coming to collect money from Abuchi and to conclude plans for the next operation when all of a sudden SARS men struck and arrested the three of them.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, said the freezers were later recovered. He reiterated his stance that his men and officers would pursue any suspect to any part of the country. He said efforts were also being made to track down the two soldiers involved in the gang.

But trouble started when Taiwo (fellow suspect) came to me and asked me to pray for a business he planned to do in a bank to be successful… he said he and his gang members had planned to carry out robbery operations in two banks (names withheld) and that they would reward me handsomely if my prayers made them to succeed. I agreed and prayed for them. They succeeded in the first operation and gave me N307,000 from the N8 million they carted away…

A cleric accused of belonging to a 12-man robbery gang who operated in two banks in Lagos recently, Muktar (42), has confessed that the gang paid him N307, 000 for praying for them to be successful in the robbery operations they carried out on the banks.

In a chat with our correspondent, Muktar, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, who said he was married with five children, said: “I am an Alfa based in Lagos. I pray for barren women to become pregnant. I pray for impotent men or those with low sperm count to become complete men. I organised the disappearance or sale of babies aged between one and two years from hospitals and maternity homes in Lagos and got N500,000 per baby.

“I also helped poor people to become rich and struggling men and women to become successful. I prayed for the sick to recover quickly. I prayed for civil servants, policemen, customs officers and soldiers for rapid promotion. I prayed for politicians for landslide victory. I also empowered fraudsters to successfully obtain money from their victims.

“My customers paid me handsomely and I was very popular in Lagos. I made good money from my work as a cleric. But trouble started when Taiwo (fellow suspect) came to me and asked me to pray for a business he planned to do in a bank to be successful. I asked him the type of business he wanted to do in the bank and he said that he and his gang members had planned to carry out robbery operations in two banks (names withheld) and that they would reward me handsomely if my prayers made them to succeed. I agreed and prayed for them. They succeeded in the first operation and gave me N307,000 from the N8 million they carted away.

“Unfortunately, the second operation failed. Aremu was arrested by the police and he led the police to my prayer room to also arrest me. They also arrested my younger brother, Shuaib because both of us did the prayers together.”

Shuaib (38) said he was a cobbler. “My only offence was that I followed my spiritual brother, Alfa Muktar, to pray for the gang. At the end of a successful operation, he gave me N15,000 from his share of the loot. It was a single day prayer,” he said.

Aremu (26) said he finished secondary school before he secured an employment with a commercial bank as a driver and was placed on a monthly salary of N30,000.

He said: “It is my friend, Ramon, a panel beater, who put me in this mess. The whole thing started when he came to our office in Lagos to check one of our official vehicles. As I was discussing with him, he asked me to furnish him with information on the bank vault, security, the position of the CCTV, alarm signal and other vital information. He said he planned to bring his boys to attack the bank and promised to give me the lion’s share of the loot. I accepted.

“He later introduced me to one Ahmed and we fixed May 25 for the operation. I left the bank the moment they entered and pretended that I was running away from the gang. The following day, we gathered at Ladipo Canal and they gave me N900,000. They also gave me N307,000 to give to Alfa Muktar for his wonderful prayers and another N150,000 for Idowu for participating.”

Asked why he aided armed robbers to rob his own organisation, he said: “I needed money to buy a bus which I intended to use for transportation. When I regain my freedom, I will become a commercial bus driver because I know the bank would not take me back after what has happened.”

Ahmed, another suspected member of the gang who hails from Ayetoro village in Ogun State, said: “I am here because I committed armed robbery with the other guys. It was my friend, Taiwo , a driver with a commercial bank, who asked me to meet him at a Lagos street on September 26, 2012 at about 7.30 pm. He was with one Saheed when I got to the bank. We were six in number, namely Saheed, Ramon, Lukmon, Kola, Ahmed and Congo.

“It was only Saheed who entered. Within two minutes, somebody hit him with a stick, disarmed him and started shouting. His cry attracted the police from Area D who stormed the bank immediately and arrested Saheed and myself. The other four ran into Ladipo Canal and escaped.

“Saheed and I were later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). When they brought us before Abba Kyari, Superintendent of Police in charge of SARS, he told us that we were at SARS’ Scorpion House where suspects don’t tell lies. We assisted him to arrest Luko, Kola and Taiwo.”

On why he joined the gang, he said: “I finished secondary school and passed all my subjects but I had no money or someone to sponsor my university education. I later learnt to trade in electronics items but I had no shop of my own. One day, I met a friend at a joint and told him about my intention to save money for my university education. He told me that the quickest way to get money was to join a powerful robbery gang. He assured me of being protected from the police. He even showed me a policeman who was coming to smoke with them at the joint.”

Another suspect, Idowu (32), an indigene of Okeho town, Oyo State, said: “I trained as a glass cutter. Aremu is my friend. One day, he called me and told me that he would like us to be business partners in the building of skin doors. He said he would provide the capital and my own role would be to build the doors and sell them, after which we would share the profits on 50-50 basis.”

Asked how he would raise the capital, he told me he had planned to rob his bank and was sure of getting a reasonable amount for the business. After the operation, he gave me N150,000 to use as capital for our business. I built and supplied doors to some people, but they have not paid me.”

How was he arrested? He said: “I went for vigil in my church. When I returned, they told me that policemen came to look for me. I went to Area D to ask why policemen were looking for me. I was handcuffed and handed over to SARS.”

The sixth suspect, Ahmed (26) from Ayetoro, Yewa North, Ogun State, who said he was a phone accessories seller, said: “I only participated in the robbery of one of the banks. The operation at the other bank failed.

“It was Ramon and Azeez my friend who came to tell me that they wanted to rob the bank and that they needed one locally made gun. I asked Yusuf how the loot would be shared and he said 50-50. They asked me to follow the gang to the operation so that I would know the exact amount they would collect in the bank so that they would not be cheated. They gave me N900,000 as my own share and I was arrested at my uncle’s house where I was hiding.”

The seventh suspect, Rasheed (27), a driver with one of the banks, said: “I had been driving for the bank for two years and four months. My mother had an eye problem which needed to be operated upon. One had already been operated upon and there was no money to do the operation on the second eye.

“In my desperation to get my mother cured, I met my friend called Emma. He later introduced me to Alfa Muktar to pray for me to find a solution to my mother’s eye. The first week, Alfa asked me what I was doing for a living and I told him that I was a driver with a bank.

“He told me that for being a driver with a bank, my problem was almost solved. He advised me to go and come back the following day to enable him consult the gods about my problem. When I came back the following day, he asked me to bring my photograph. Later, he asked me to follow others to the bank to collect money. It was when they started operation in the bank that I realised that they were armed robbers. But there was no going back because the operation had started and I was expecting big money. Unfortunately, the operation failed and we were arrested. My mother has not gone to the hospital for the final operation.”

Another suspect, 24-year-old Adedokun, who claimed to be a 400-level Business Management student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ayetoro Campus, said he was a member of a cult group called the Aye Fraternity.

He said: “I am a Fraternity member. Ahmed is also an Aye member. They knew that I was the armourer for my Fraternity. So, they begged me to bring one of the guns for the bank robbery operation. Therefore, I was the one who supplied the gun we used for the job.”

The ninth suspect, Kola (26), said: “I am an Okada (commercial motorcycle) rider. Taiwo contracted me to be carrying the gang members to any bank they wanted to rob. First, Taiwo asked me to carry them in twos. I first took Ahmed and Saheed to one of the banks. We robbed the bank of N8 million.”

The 10th suspect, Saheed (24), said: “I went to visit my friend, Ahmed, at Ifo town in Ogun State. There I met Ahmed who begged me to accompany them to somewhere in Lagos. When we reached there, it turned out to be a bank. That was how I followed them to rob.”

The 11th suspect, Lukeman (26), a commercial motorcycle rider, said: “Taiwo called me to assist him in carry his gang members to the bank they intended to rob. Initially, I told them to pay me N1,500 for each trip. But when I realised that the money they wanted to cart away from the bank was in millions, I changed my mind and told them that the money would be shared 50-50 because it was the same risk that everybody was taking. They accepted.”

The 12th suspect, Abdullahi’s whereabouts were not known as he was not among the suspects our correspondent interviewed.

Commenting on the arrest of the suspects, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, recalled that on September 26, 2012, at about 6pm, one Ahmed and Saheed were arrested by the Area D Command Headquarters, Mushin at a bank in Mushin, Lagos, after a shootout when the gang went to rob at the bank.

“Consequently, Ahmed and Saheed made confessional statements which led to the arrest of eight others and the recovery of one locally made pistol with one live cartridge. The case was subsequently transferred to SARS Ikeja for further investigation on October 2, 2012.

“When they were further interrogated, they confessed that their armourer and the gang leader, Adedokun and Ahmed , were in Ayetoro in Ogun State. Consequently, they led SARS operatives to Aiyetoro in Ogun State where the two were arrested and two locally made pistols with four live cartridges were recovered.

“The suspects, who normally operated with the aid of insiders, confessed to have robbed a bank in Mushin, Lagos on 25th May, 2012 where they carted away N8 million and another bank at Isolo on 29th August 2012.”

Manko said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation.