The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Suspect

  • Why I took to robbery, by suspect

    Why I took to robbery, by suspect

    A 25-years-old man yesterday said he was forced into robbery after his two tricycles popularly known as keke marwa were confiscated by the Task Force.

    Emmanuel Godwin was paraded in Lagos yesterday by the Lagos for tricycle theft.

    He said, he decided to rob to meet his financial demands.

    “What made me to go into snatching Keke Marwa was my losing two Keke Marwa to Task Force from Alausa. I was doing barbing work before I joined the gang. If I am released, I will not steal again,” Godwin, 28, from Ekpoma in Edo State, said.

    According to police, the suspect usually poses as a passenger and hires tricycle and on getting to a convenient place, he would push the owner out and zoom off with the tricycle, especially in black spots.

    In a police parlance, “black spots” are areas of high crime rate.

    The suspect steals tricycles parked on the street, in front of a compound or near a restaurant.

    He was first arrested by the Zonal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (ZSARS) on January 1.

    Luck ran out against him when he stole another tricycle last week and the owner reported to the police.

    The police tracked Godwin down to Ijora where he planned to sell the tricycle. He was arrested when he returned to collect money from a SARS official, who posed as the buyer.

    The suspect said: “I am a tricycle snatcher not an armed robber because I don’t use gun. I steal from parks and when I ask a tricycle rider for a test drive and he allows me I run away with the tricycle.

    “I used to sell each tricycle I snatched or stole for N60,000. I stole five tricycles and sold them to one man known as Aye at Ijora. I also sold two to one Liwan but the market price of a tricycle is N400, 000. Aye still owes me for the two tricycles sold to him while Liwan owes me for one tricycle.

    “I was following one gang before I decided to be a one-man squad. I was taken to the gang by one of my friends called Babatunde now late. He died of taking hard drugs like cocaine, heroin and Indian hemp. I also smoke Indian hemp four times a day. Each wrap is N50.

    “I did not know that they were tricycle snatchers until they used me five times to go and deliver to a buyer at Ijora. They used to give me N5,000 after each delivery. When I felt that they were cheating me, I decided to go solo. The first tricycle I sold I got N60, 000. I gave N25, 000 to my late colleague for helping me to get a buyer.

    “I am married with two children. Till now my wife is not aware that I am arrested and I don’t want her to know because she is hypertensive. Even my mother is hypertensive and I don’t want her to know also.

     

  • Murder: Suspect gets bail

    Murder: Suspect gets bail

    An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos yesterday granted bail to a suspect, Akorede Hammed.

    Senior Magistrate, Mr A.O. Komolafe, who granted the accused bail, chided the police for not doing their job “satisfactorily and effectively’’.

    The magistrate’s anger followed his discovery that the accused was not the accused as alleged by the police.

    “This is not how to do the right job; and I do not see the need to punish or remand an innocent man who is just a victim of circumstance.

    “This is only a case of an alibi, would you say because the ‘culprit’ is on the run so you should arraign another in his place?”

    The Investigating Police Officer, Corporal Felix Osogu, earlier told the court that the main accused was on the run and he was only following orders of his superior officer to arraign Hammed.

    The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Elizabeth Ekuma, told the court that Hammed, a bus driver, was given a vehicle to supervise and remit an agreed amount to the owner, the complainant (Joseph Emmanuel).

    She explained that on February 28 at Igbe Road in Ikorodu, the corpse of one Azeez Idowu was found inside the said vehicle which had been abandoned.

    “Hammed had given the vehicle to his friend, one Sunday, to use and remit a token of N4, 000 to him.

    “But he failed to do so as the vehicle was found `abandoned’ in Ikorodu with a corpse inside it the following day.”

    The accused, 25, a bus driver, is being tried for murder and conspiracy.

    Hammed pleaded not guilty.

    He was granted N200, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    The case has been adjourned till June 8.

     

  • I was mistaken for a thief, says suspect

    I was mistaken for a thief, says suspect

    A 26-year-old suspect, Tunde Adewale, has been paraded by the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

    Adewale was rescued by the police from an irate mob that nearly lynched him at Ijegun, a Lagos suburb.

    His two other colleagues fled on motorcycle.

    According to police, the suspect had been under intensive medical care because he could not talk when he was brought for investigation.

    “You can see that it is the treatment that he was receiving since they transferred him that even enabled him to talk and the worse is that he is a poor liar and a stark illiterate,” a policeman said

    “He was transferred here almost half dead but we were able to revive him,” the officer said.

    Adewale said he is a commercial motorcyclist, adding that he was mistaken for a thief.

    He said: “I was carrying two passengers at Ijegun community half way they stopped me and brought knives and cutlasses claiming to be cult boys. I became afraid and locked my motorcycle and started asking them why they stopped me here whereas they have not reached where they were going.

    “As I was talking one of them snatched my motorcycle key and started the motorcycle. As he wanted to drive away with the second person I started dragging my motorcycle with them but they succeeded in overpowering me and zoomed off with my motorcycle.

    “When I was crying for help, the people from the area gathered round me calling me thief, thief and before I knew it, they started beating me.

    “Look at my eyes, mouth, the whole face, how I was beaten almost to death. They thought that I was dead and pushed me by the road side. Luckily policemen on patrol carried me to their station and later transferred me to SARS Scorpion House when they noticed that I was still breathing.

    “I am an okada rider. I was mistaken for a thief when the two boys I was carrying snatched my motorcycle and claimed to be cult boys. I am married with a child.

    “I carried two passengers from Ikotun to Ladipo side. The two passengers wanted to drop and one of them collected my okada key and I saw cutlass with them. They started my motorcycle and left pushing me aside. I was badly beaten before police picked me up. They tore my shirt before beating me. I did not know who beat me because they were many. It was after intensive medical attention in SARS that I recovered consciousness. I was brought here unconscious.

    “I was beaten by people living around Kano Street, Ikotun. The irate mob was wrong for trying to lynch. I did not know the two passengers who claimed to be cult boys.”

    On why none of his relations has asked after him he said: “My brother is in Osun State. I am the only one in Lagos. It happened around 1pm. I am not an armed robber. Cult boys snatched my motorcycle and ran away while people living around there gathered and started beating me telling me that those two passengers were my gang members or fellow cult boys.”

  • Drugs led me to robbery, says suspect

    Drugs led me to robbery, says suspect

    A 50-year-old man, Tokunbo Ojo, has said his love for cocaine and Indian hemp led him to armed robbery.

    According to police, Ojo was arrested on April 6 for using a master key to open the door of a parked car on Yaya Abatan Street in Ogba, Lagos, carting away laptops, expensive phones, wrist watch and money.

    He said: “I used to take drugs like cocaine but I usually mix it with N20 marijuana as cocaine is N100 a wrap and I take it five times a day. I have operated three times. One was at Agege, the second at Iyana-Ipaja and the third is at Abule-Egba. It was this fourth one at Ogba that I was arrested and transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Lagos State Police Command.

    “I have not achieved anything. Drug only damages my life and did not give me chance to take care of my children and wife. I am sorry for myself. It is drug that pushed me to stealing. My wife is even tired of persuading me to stop taking drug.

    Fortunately my being detained in SARS cell has helped me to stop taking drug. My 15 days in detention has removed all the cocaine in my body. I will not take cocaine again. My detention in SARS is a blessing in disguise.”

    The father of two said he was a one-man squad.

    “People suspected me of stealing laptops, money, phones, wrist watches from parked vehicles and I was arrested while trying to do it again at Ogba 15 days ago. I am a one-man squad because it is risky to allow somebody to join because his mistake can bring about your arrest. I collected only two laptops. I just started,” he said.

    Ojo said he regretted his action, adding: “My wife is a motor agent; she buys motor for people and company that requested for vehicles and she does it on contract basis as she is after commission.”

  • Don’t remand me, suspect pleads

    Don’t remand me, suspect pleads

    AFRAID of life as an awaiting trial suspect, a robbery suspect has pleaded with Lagos State Commissioner of Police Kayode Aderanti to save him from being remanded.

    Emmanuel Okoli (20), who hails from Awka, the Anambra State capital, urged the commissioner to ensure that he is jailed rather than being kept in custody.

    The suspect promised not to rob again if released, adding that if he is caught robbing again, he should be killed.

    Okoli became a guest of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for attempting to snatch a woman banker’s handbag in Lagos last week. Luck ran out against him when the Coaster bus the woman was waiting for came and her colleagues pounced on Okoli for harrassing her.

    The suspect said: “I am an unlucky armed robber because I have been arrested by police, charged to court and remanded three times in Ikoyi prison. An awaiting-trial person lack enough space to move about. A day is like 40 days in the wilderness without food or access to medical attention.”

    Recalling his arrest, he said: “We were four – Karimu, Soji, Gito and I. We went to a club in Awoyaya in Ajah. As we were coming back in the morning, we saw a woman standing at a bus stop with a bag. Soji, Gito and Karimu told me to go and get the bag. When I got to her, I started asking her irrelevant questions. As I was still talking, a bus came and she jumped into the bus and told other occupants her experience with me. They came down, gave me the beating of my life and handed me over to the police. Karim, Soji and Gito ran away. I was later transferred to SARS and that is why I am here now.

    “I have been remanded in prison three times. The first one was in November 2012, for stealing a carton of beer, hence I was charged with breaking into a shop in Ajiwe in Ajah. I was remanded for three months. The second one was in 2013 at Flash Club Ajah. The third operation was a street fight where we used the opportunity to rob and I was arrested and remanded in Ikoyi Prison.”

     

  • Armed robbery suspect nabbed by victim, mob

    Armed robbery suspect nabbed by victim, mob

    Luck ran out for a suspected robber when he was apprehended by his would-be victim and some residents of Okoafo on Badagry Expressway, Lagos.

    Tunde Animasaun and two others had attempted to rob a supermarket attendant at gun point.

    The attendant’s distress call attracted residents; but Animasaun’s colleagues fled.

    Parading Animasaun yesterday at the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja, the command’s spokesperson, Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the suspect is a member of a three-man gang that attacked a supermarket about 9pm in February.

    Nwosu said two others Abiodun and Sodeeq, a commercial motorcyclist, are at large.

    Animasaun, 25, said the operation was his first.

    He said:  “We were three myself, Abiodun and the okada rider. We went to rob a chemist man; Abiodun pointed a gun at him and asked me to pack some of the provision in his shop including money. The third member is not known to me before. It was Abiodun that told me that he is a member of our gang.

    “His role is to take us to a robbery operation scene and take us back on his motorcycle. We share money and loot equal. Two of them escaped on the motorcycle when the chemist man grabbed me and wrestled with me and start shouting for help.

    “When they brought me before the officer in charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a superintendent of police SP Abba Kyari, he asked me about my parents. I told him that my father had died. My mother took care of me from primary school to junior secondary school. When there was no money to continue, I started learning furniture work but there was no money to do freedom. It was my friend Abiodun that lured me into armed robbery work. He told me that with armed robbery operations, I would be able to get enough money to do any big business of my choice and open big furniture workshop in Lagos.

    “I was arrested in my first operation. If I am released, I will never rob again. Police and my mother will be my witnesses. It is better to be a poor man than to be an armed robber. I will not smoke Indian hemp again. I will face my furniture work and help my mother before I marry. I will marry a nurse to reduce cost of family health care.”

  • Ejigbo torture: Suspect slumps in court

    •Trial begins March 20

    Trial of 10 persons alleged to have tortured three women at Ejigbo, Lagos two years ago was stalled yesterday when one of them slumped in court.

    Ahmed Adisa slumped and was rushed to the hospital about an hour before  their case

    Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye subsequently fixed the case for March 20.

    Other defendants are Isiaka Waidi, Saheed Adisa, Lateef Tijani, Oloruntoyin Dauda, Adekunle Adenuga, Azeez Akinosun, Jimoh Busari, Buhari Yusuf, and Abdullahi Harun.

    They were charged to court by the Lagos State government for their involvement in the torture and molestation of the women.

    They are accused of conspiracy, attempted murder, sexual assault, malicious administering of poison, obtaining money by false pretences and deprivation of liberty.

    When the case was called, a defence counsel, D.I Chukwuma, told the court that Adisa, the fourth defendant, slumped and has been taken to the hospital.

    “My Lord, the fourth defendant slumped about an hour ago and has been taken to general hospital.”

    Earlier, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Idowu Alakija told the court that the defence counsel had been served with the processes as directed by Justice Ipaye at the last sitting.

    But Chukwuma and another defence counsel, Kayode Adewuyi protested that Tijani, Dauda, Adenuga and Harun, were charged with same offence for which they are standing trial at the Magistrate’s court.

    They argued that it would be an abuse of process if they are arraigned again for the same charges at the high court.

    “The defendants are already facing similar charges before a competent court of law, at the Magistrate’s court. The next sitting in the matter is coming up on March 18. It will be an abuse of court if the same matter is brought before another court,” he said.

    But Mrs Alakija said she was not aware of the proceeding in the Magistrate’s court having withdrawn the charges.

    “We don’t have any proof of what he said. I don’t want to presume that it is the charge I withdrew from the magistrate’s court which our Legal advice ceased. So, I really don’t know what he is talking about”.

    Justice Ipaye adjourned the matter till March 20, for prosecution to withdraw the other matter in the Magistrate’s court properly.

    According to the charge, the defendants were alleged to have taken part in a trial by ordeal of their victims, Nike Salami, Ajoke Agomo and Juliana Agomo, causing them grievous harm.

    They were said to have detained their victims against their will.

    The charge said the defendants beat up their victims, stripped them  naked and rubbed pepper on their bodies. They also allegedly supervised the insertion of sticks and noxious substances into  their private parts on the purported claim that the women stole pepper.

    The prosecution alledged that the defendants attempted to kill their victims.

    They were said to have obtained N50, 000 from one Fima Agomo, a relative of the victims, for the supposed payment of traders whose pepper were purportedly stolen.

    The offences are contrary to and punishable under Sections 44, 171,  127(1), 128(b),  241, 243, 270, 228(2), 259, 312(1)(a), 405 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

     

  • Suspect held in hospital for Ibadan cult clash

    One person has been arrested in the fracas between Eiye and Aiye fraternities in Agbowo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Police spokesman Adekunle Ajisebutu said:”One suspect was arrested yesterday at an undisclosed hospital, where he was receiving treatment.

    “He has been transferred to the University College Hospital (UCH), where he is receiving treatment under the watchful eyes of security operatives. After his recovery, he will be transferred to the department of criminal investigation.”

    Ajisebutu said nobody was killed, urging residents not to panic because police patrol vans had been dispatched in the area.

    “We have also ensured that adequate protection is in place to prevent a reccurrence.”

    At the Agbowo/ University of Ibadan (UI) community yesterday, many shops were closed and most streets deserted.

    Recounting their ordeal, some shop owners and residents described the incident as a terrible experience.

    A shop owner said: “I heard that some thugs were coming from Akingbola area, I thought it was child’s  play until I started hearing gunshots. They came towards the complex and down to Agbowo/Amure side, that was when we started packing and closing our shops. I think the gunshots were to scare people away.”

    A resident of Ajetumobi Street said: “How will these shop owners open? They were scared because Yahaya (alleged cultist) who was killed was still sighted on Wednesday. The incident happened around 4:30pm. Policemen have been patrolling the area which is adding to our fear because they may arrest innocent people.”

    An eyewitness said: “All of a sudden we heard sporadic shootings at the UI/Agbowo axis; it was like a war scene. They were about 50 in number. It was a clash between the Aiye and Eiye cult groups.

    “The feud started three weeks ago from a football field inside the school. They pursued themselves hotly to Ajetumobi Street and engaged themselves. Yahaya was killed because he had a leg injury and could not run very fast. Yahaya belonged to the Aiye fraternity.”

  • ‘Bad’ friends lured me into robbery, says suspect

    ‘Bad’ friends lured me into robbery, says suspect

    A robbery suspect has blamed those he called “bad friends” for luring him into the underworld.

    Suraju Ismaila, 21 said the friends he mingled with when he moved from Ajangbadi to Ajegunle suburbs, led him into the world of crime.

    He belonged to a five-man gang whose members include: Small (23); Pepper (27); Akiri (25), an Ojota-based driver, and Yusuf, a bus assistant (conductor) at Ketu.

    Ismaila, who said he started off as a furniture maker whose workshop was at Afro Media in Okokomaiko on Lagos/Badagry Expressway, stated: “I lived in Ajangbadi with my uncle, a proficient carpenter, who is married with a child. I became a bus conductor to a driver called Onyeka. I later got another bus that plied Agbara-Okoko-Mile 2 route with 22 passengers. My story changed when Onyeka told me that he wanted to relocate to Ajegunle and asked if I was interested in following him and I accepted. It was there I saw people engaged in all sorts of businesses to make a living. To them, stealing was fun.

    “There was a day I had no money on me and I called Small who asked me to meet him and his friends at a place called Alafia via Orile at about 7pm. When I got there, I was asked to sit down by the roadside pending when they would join me. They later came back with phones and laptops. They gave me N2,000 and asked me to meet them the next day.”

    “When I met them the next day,” the suspect continued, “Pepper showed me a gun and asked me to follow them to go and work. I told them that I could not do such work, but they threatened to shoot me dead if I refused to follow them. They pointed the gun at me and I was forced to follow them.

    “We went, operated and came back with five phone sets and N30,000 cash. We used to operate with one motorcycle. I later travelled to Ibadan to see my mother. I left Ajangbadi Secondary School in 1999. My father died and I had nobody to sponsor my education further. While in Ibadan, my friend, Onyegbuchi called to inform me that the police had arrested Small. I spent extra three months in Ibadan to allow the storm to subside. I was arrested where I went to relax in Ajegunle and sent to Ajeromi Police Station.”

    Ismaila, who said he was later transferred to SARS, added: “I urinated in my trousers when I was asked for the whereabouts of other members of our gang who are still at large. I participated only in three operations. At the Mile 2 operation, we got N50,000 with phone sets. We were three on the motorcycle owned by Pepper with the gun. The second operation was at Orile. We got phone sets and laptops which we sold for N75,000. I was given N15,000 only.

    “I was arrested inside a public toilet at the Mile 2 garage where I went to bath. I also participated in stop-and-search armed robbery operations on major roads and streets in Lagos. Our major receiver is Poopo, who lives in Ajegunle; he is still at large. My role in every operation is to search victims and collect their money, phone sets and other valuable things.

    “Our leader is Pepper. If I am released, I will seek for scholarship to complete my education. My life ambition is to become a gallant, intelligent and most feared police officer. I will make life horrible for armed robbers and other violent criminals.”

  • Why I deal in human head, by suspect

    Why I deal in human head, by suspect

    A 38-year-old man,  Rasheed Alabi, has run into trouble for dealing in human head.

    Alabi was said to have exhumed a body and cut off the head.

    He told the police that he went into selling human heads in order to raise money to buy a motorcycle for commercial purpose.

    The suspect, who hails from  Igbogila in Ogun State, is being held in the custody of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

    A police source said he was caught last December 14 while trying to sell the head of a dead man at about 10pm in his home town.

    Following a tip-off SARS operatives laid ambush and arrested him with the late man’s head.

    The suspect said: “I had wanted to take the man’s head to a native doctor for ritual purposes, but my friend, Muyi, told me that I could get someone to buy it for N15,000, adding that if I could get at least 10 heads, I would solve my financial problem and feed my family well.

    “I knew the man before he died. There was a small boy who bought the farm where he was buried. I was told that he became rich through selling human heads and I became interested. Unfortunately I was arrested.”

    The command’s spokesperson, Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident.