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 heavy responsibility he bore as a 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 of money 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 in Lagos during the rush hours. But when passengers started holding their purses, phones and bags in their hands while rushing to get buses, the amount of money I 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 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 one.
“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 their actions. We did not only 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 in number, including Opia, Aboose and Tajudeen and Emma. We adopted division of labour during operations. Somebody would ransack the house under attack. Another person would collect money and phones. We called him the 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 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.
