OPERATIVES of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, have arrested four of the eight-man armed robbery gang that killed the deputy editor of Daily Newswatch, Mr Toyin Obadina, on February 1.
The journalist was shot dead in the Lucky Fibre Area of Ikorodu at about 1.30 am. His body and vehicle were abandoned at the scene of the incident.
The four suspects are Adeshina Festus, 21; Babatunde Makinde, 25; Sunday Samuel, 22 and Ibrahim Adeokin, 22.
The two suspects now at large, according to police sources, are Ola Sheu and Omo Alhaja. The remaining two members of the gang were said to have been shot dead during an exchange of fire with the police in another operation.
Items recovered from the suspects are: two locally made single-barrel cut-to-size guns; 12 rounds of live cartridges; one Nissan Xterra Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) marked ISD 780 BJ, and a Toyota Yaris car marked AKD 701 CE.
Parading the suspects yesterday, Commissioner of Police Kayode Aderanti said their arrest came on the heels of a tip the command got about some armed robbers hiding in the Mile 12 area where they were planning to unleash terror on residents.
Based on the information, he said, “a team of crack detectives led by the officer in charge of SARS, Superintendent of Police (SP) Abba Kyari, swung into action and burst the criminals’ hideout in the Ajelogo/Akanimodo area of Mile 12 during which the suspects were arrested.
A search conducted on the suspects, he said, led to the recovery of two locally made single-barrel short guns with 12 rounds of live cartridges.
Aderanti also said that during interrogation, the suspects confessed to belonging to an eight-man gang of armed robbers that had been terrorising the state and its environs.
“They also confessed to being responsible for the killing of the owner of a Toyota Yaris Salon car marked AKD 701 CE which they snatched and later abandoned with the owner’s corpse at Lucky Fibre Area, Ikorodu on February 1, 2014 at about 1.30am and the victim was later discovered to be Mr. Toyin Obadina, Deputy Editor of Daily Newswatch newspaper,” Aderanti said.
The gang, the police chief said, used a Nissan Xterra SUV marked ISD 780 BJ, which it snatched from one Mr. Segun Afolabi to block and rob the late journalist before the gang’s leader, Oke, shot him dead.
Their confession, he said, led detectives to Ikorodu where Adesina Festus and Sunday Samuel (aka Junior Junior) were arrested. He said they confessed to the crime and other robbery operations in and outside Lagos.
Defending himself, Sunday said: “I was inside our operational vehicle when Oke and Benjamin, another member of our gang, went to meet the late editor in his car after we blocked him. Oke was “dragging” with him over what I did not know before Oke shot him dead. We were driving two cars, Sienna and Toyota Camry, which we snatched from other victims. We used one of our cars to block him. I am from Alaka Town in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. I am a transporter; I stole all my vehicles, which I converted for commercial use.”
Babatunde said: “Our intention was only to collect the man’s (Obadina’s) mobile set, but he was ‘dragging’ with Oke, hence Oke shot him.”
Ibrahim said he was in the car with Adesina when the police arrested him, adding that he did not participate in the operation that led to Obadina’s killing.
Adesina said he was inside their operational car when Oke shot the deputy editor, but confessed that he was the one that blocked his car before he was shot dead.
Aderanti said that the arrest of Obadina’s killers “shows that you can only run when you commit crime but cannot hide from justice, especially within my command.”
He also said investigation was ongoing over the killing The Sun Director, Dimgba Igwe, by a hit-and-run driver. The Commissioner urged the public to give the command information that could lead to the arrest of the culprit.
