An unsuspecting womanizer would easily fall into their traps
seeing their feminine faces made-up with cosmetics, with weave-on hairdo that
dangles on both sides of their broad shoulders.
Their coated lips look
inviting. No doubt, countless men must have fallen prey to them. Many passersby
who thronged the state headquarters of the Police command at Eleiyele, Ibadan
to catch a glimpse of these attractive “women” could not hide their disbelief.
Though, their chests were flat
which should convince doubting Thomases that the suspects were not women, some
still insisted on seeing their private parts due to their looks.
But, behind these deceptive
looks are more than meets the ordinary eye. The hearts of both Omooba Oyewole
and Lawal Kabir are fortified with cold steel. They are suspected dare-devil
robbers. If they have conscience, it must be made of solid concrete.
One of the suspects, Lawal
Kabir whose eyelids blink momentarily like a doll in the old Kingsway Store
claims to be a devout Muslim and considers only Fridays and the Ramadan period
as sacred days in the whole year when he thinks he should not engage in armed
robbery.
These days, especially Fridays,
he said, he would go to the mosque to pray to God to forgive all his criminal
tendencies only to continue his devilish acts thereafter. In fact, the suspect
said he was arrested on Friday after observing the Jumat prayers.
Given their looks, one needed
no soothsayer to discern that the suspects had carried out numerous deadly
attacks on their victims even though they admitted to have participated in no
fewer than four successful robbery operations.
According to them, they had
made people cry in places like Osun, Sawmill, Iyana-Agbala and other places
when they unleashed terror on them. Knowing their days of reckoning had finally
come, the eight-man gang confessed some of the crimes they had committed to Crime Alert.
Ayodele Olaitan, who wore a
mask, one of the tools they use in their nefarious activities shook his head in
regret and said: “It was my friends that pushed me into this. I joined the gang
sometime ago and I have participated in at least three robbery operations.
I am not the owner of the mask
you see on me. It belongs to one of us called pastor. He is dead now. I regret
all my actions. I didn’t realize we could be caught. But, now the game is up, “
he said as he burst into tears.
Like other criminals, Lawal
Kabir said he was pushed into the criminal world as a result of an unsuccessful
business venture. “I took to robbery when my plumbing work was not booming.
Three years after my freedom as
an apprentice, I tried all I could to make both ends meet, but things did not
work for me. I first stayed in Lagos before I later came to Ibadan where I was
introduced to a gang of armed robbers. I have participated in four armed
robbery attacks.
I went with them to Osun State,
Ibadan, Sawmill and Iyana -Agbala. I was arrested on Friday after I finished
praying in the mosque. Somebody we call a pastor, also a member of the gang
called me without knowing the police had already arrested him.
I don’t rob on Fridays and
during Ramadan. I used those periods to pray to God to forgive me my sins. I
know what I was doing was wrong but it was difficult for me to break away from
it.”
Another member of the gang,
Biola Alaba who wore a weave-on hairdo said they were eight in number and that
they were arrested at a drinking joint while preparing to carry out a robbery
operation at Bodija area of the city. He denied ever killing any of their
victims.
“How can I commit two sins at
the same time. I cannot rob and kill at the same time. It is unfair to rob
someone of his belongings and kill him. We don’t even rape our victims, “ he
said.
As for Sunday Omooba from Ogbomoso
who says he is a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, he narrated how he
took charge of the armoury for the gang. “I helped them get bullets through one
man. I just call the man any time I need bullets for the gang.
I don’t rob with them. In fact,
I did not know that they were using the bullets to rob. I also supplied that
pump action gun to them. I bought the gun for N70,000 from a friend. If I knew
that they would use the weapons for robbery, I would not give them.”
The Investigating Police Officer
in charge of the case alleged that Omooba supplied the pump action gun and
killed the owner of the gun so that he could get the gun from him and did not
give the money he promised to give him.
Other suspects who are car
snatchers including those who bought the stolen vehicles from them were also
arrested in Kaduna and Kano. Two of the suspects, Dolapo Olayinka and Yusuf
Ibrahim, robber and accomplice respectively; gave their own accounts. Olayinka
said he only used his commercial motorcycle to convey the robbers who
dispossessed people of their items. He recalled how they crossed a woman’s
vehicle and took N20,000 from her at gun point.
The owners of the stolen
vehicles were at the police command to identify their vehicles. All of them
pleaded anonymity for fear of being attacked by yet-to-be-identified members of
the gang.
One of them said his car, a
Toyota Camry, was snatched at gunpoint on October 1, last year around
8pm and he reported at the Special Anti robbery squad.
He specifically commended the
efforts of one SP Sola Aremu, the O/C SARS, Ogbomoso and his boys for going
ahead to recover the car. He said: “I am full of thanks to the police. I never
thought I could recover my car again. The SARS in Ogbomoso acted promptly. I
have never seen police work like that.”
The State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Mohammed Indabawa said, “sequel to tip-offs about a criminal
hideout at a mechanic village, Iyana Church, Ibadan, a raid was organized and
SARS operatives arrested the following suspected armed robbers: Olaitan
Ayodele, Abiola Alaba, Oyewole Ogunwole, Adedeji Mustapha, Omooba Oyewole and
Adedeji Mustapha. On interrogation, they all confessed to their past and
present crimes within and outside Oyo State. They also confessed to have
attacked and robbed two police officers.
All the people they confessed
to have robbed were contacted and they corroborated their confessions.
In order to recover some of
their loot as well as arms and ammunition, a search was conducted in the house
of the leader of the gang, one Ayodele Olaitan along Airport Road, Ibadan and
the following exhibits were recovered; one pump action gun, one English
cut-to-size double barrel gun, one single-barrel gun, locally made cylinders
and many others.
No comments:
Post a Comment