Two
men, who allegedly specialised in attacking hotels and raiding lodgers
in Lagos, are now cooling their feet in police custody. The suspects,
Kayode Johnson (30) aka Badoo and Sheriff Owolabi (28), used to attack
hotels in the metropolis.
The suspects are members of an
eight-man gang. Their modus operandi is to attack any hotel after
surveillance, raid guest rooms and rob lodgers of their valuables.
Speaking on how they operate, Johnson said: “Once we approach a hotel,
we would bring out guns and threaten those outside. They would take us
into the hotel. Each of us would start raiding rooms and lodgers.
Whatever you get during that operation, is yours for the keeping.”
MORE AFTER THE CUT.............................
Johnson
was arrested while heading for a robbery operation. He said three of
them were supposed to go for the operation. But just as he was going to
meet others at a designated venue, he saw some policemen and panicked.
The
policemen noticed his suspicious movements and ordered him to halt.
Immediately they ordered him to stop, he swiftly dropped the gun with
him into the gutter. The policemen didn’t notice.
Although the
policemen couldn’t pin anything on him, they, however, sensed he was a
bad guy. When they took the suspect to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (FSARS), Ikeja, their instincts were correct. Johnson turned out
to be one of the most wanted criminals on ‘Police Wanted List.’
When
he was interrogated, he started singing like a bird. He mentioned the
names of other members of the gang, including Owolabi. Police went after
others, but succeeded in catching only Owolabi.
Owolabi, who
was angry with Johnson for daring to mention his name, said: “I went
with him to rob only three times. I stopped going with them. He now
mentioned my name to the police.
This time around, I didn’t even
commit any crime. They just came to my area to arrest me. I quit crime
in January. I didn’t go to Iju-Ishaga robbery with them.” Further
confessing his crime, Johnson disclosed that he was arrested at MAN
Centre area, Ikeja. He said: “I was walking, I saw the police patrol
team coming. When the police saw me, they said ‘Mr. Man, stop there,’ I
quickly dropped the gun in my hand into the gutter.
I bought the
gun myself for N20,000. “When we went for the Iju-Ishaga operation, we
saw people in front of the hotel, threatened them with guns, entered the
hotel and started robbing. I have participated in robbery of two
hotels. I started robbery three years ago. During robbery operations of
hotels, everyone looks out for his own loot.”
Johnson added that
his greatest haul was the robbery of an Indian national on Awolowo Way,
Ikeja. He said: “We robbed a white man at Ikeja. It was Prince and I
that went for the operation. We broke the man’s door and went inside. He
was sleeping. We woke him up and robbed him of his dollars.
“But
my girlfriend stole the dollars from me. She came to meet me at the
hotel after the operation. It was my partner that told her that we got
dollars from the operation. We slept together that night. I woke up in
the morning to discover that she had fled with my dollars. Since then, I
had not set eyes on her. “We stole 34 pieces of $100 bills. We shared
it. I took 19 pieces and gave Prince 18 pieces.
After robbing the
white man, we went to lodge at Shugus Hotel, at Mushin. My lover knew I
was a robber. She used to beg me to stop robbery.” The suspect said
that he had always wanted to quit, but found it difficult. He said: “I
had wanted to stop, I prayed to God, but I continued. I wasn’t enjoying
it. If I’m allowed to go, I wouldn’t rob again.”
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