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.
READ MORE AFTER THE CUT.......................................................
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 Iknew 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.
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