OPERATIVES of the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have ended the reign of a suspected car-snatching and armed robbery kingpin in Lagos and Abuja.
Oliver Chukwuemeka a.k.a Mopol, 35, was arrested while on his way to receiving a snatched vehicle from a member of his gang in Lagos.
A source said Oliver had been parading himself as an orderly and driver to some retired senior police officers to evade arrest.
Nemesis caught up with him when he was found with an identity card belonging to a Corporal, following which he confessed that he used the card to beat security checks.
His arrest, it was learnt, followed that of two of his agents, Ogunshina Akinropo, 32, an ex-convict, and Hamzat Akeem, 23. Akeem claimed he was a native doctor before he became a fraudster, receiver and buyer of snatched cars and armed robber “due to financial problems.”
Oliver said: “I am from Amaesi, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State. I am a driver and Orderly to Deputy Inspector General of Police, Assistant Inspector General of Police and a Commissioner of Police all retired (names withheld). I was arrested at Sagamu (Ogun State) on April 16, 2015 when I went there to collect a snatched vehicle from Hamzat. I also wash and iron clothes for the retired police officers and they used to pay me N25,000.”
On how many cars he had snatched, he said: “There is one robber called Danjuma. He gave me one Honda Accord 2003 Model at N280,000 and one jeep for N480,000; I paid N400,000 only.”
Asked why he was nicknamed Mopol and Deingenpol or Compol, he said: “My neighbours and friends always see me driving retired police officers and I used to wear Mopol uniform or cap at times. I live at 11, Arab Road, Kubwa in Abuja. I used the Corporal’s identity card to beat security agents on the highways and they even give me compliment as a very senior officer. Some policemen never looked at the identity card very well; rather they salute me.”
Akeem a.k.a Babalawo, who hails from Iwo in Osun State, said: “I am a native doctor. I inherited the work from my father who died in 2011. I cure general sicknesses. I use oracle, ogun, herbal concoctions and Igbo (Indian hemp) to cure chronic diseases and mental problems. I once had gonorrhea and I cured myself. My house was built to lintel level by my late brother. I was the one that completed it and bought two vehicles – a car and a jeep – from the money I made from fraud and robbery.
“I have a shrine inside my compound at Ajagba in Iwo. I also have an interpreter. I was an armed robber based in Ikorodu but when SARS became a threat to us, I relocated to Iwo and became a native doctor. I read it in a newspaper when the commissioner (Kayode Aderanti) advised all robbers to relocate. I obeyed but Mopol assured me that police wouldn’t be a threat to them as he had police identity card and uniform as a senior police officer. I had earlier been arrested and sent to Kirikiri prison for armed robbery twice. It was the third journey to Kirikiri that made me to relocate to my village and I came back because of Mopol to solve my financial problem.
“It was Oliver who called and asked me to go and get a vehicle for him. He bought Toyota Highlander Jeep and Toyota Corolla 2014 Model. It was another Toyota Highlander he wanted for his wife which he wanted to receive that caused his arrest. I am a native doctor and a fraudster (419er). If one wants to do ritual money, I charge him N50,000 to commit him. I also do consultancy for those who seek something from oracles. It is an organised crime. One of our members will represent oracle and talk to the victim when the victim makes the demand. I charged between N500,000 to N700,000. To scare the victim, we tell him what he cannot do, like bringing ten people to be sacrificed to the oracle and this is done after collecting enough money from him.”
Ogunshina, who is from Ilobu in Osun State, added: “I am a tractor driver. I had nothing doing and I joined robbers to survive. It was one Kingsley who gave me Mopol‘s phone number as the sponsor of our gang. I gave Mopol two vehicles in 2012. I went to Kirikiri prison once.”
The command’s spokesman, Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) confirmed the arrests, adding that sponsors of armed robbers are more heartless and dangerous than the robbers; hence, “he is a major suspect.”