It is no longer news that robbers attack motorists; both private and commercial, plying the Badagry expressway, on regular basis, capitalizing on the unending traffic congestion to dispossess their victims of cash and other valuables.
The robbery attacks which usually take place at night have, unfortunately, left many of their victims maimed and the females in particular, in perpetual psychological torture, owing to cases of rape.
However, the good news is that efforts by the Lagos State Police Command ,with the assistance of the Army seem to be paying off owing to regular arrest of some perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Recently, they rounded up a five-man robbery gang and the suspects confessed to have been operating along the route as far back as five years. The gang, as gathered, comprised fifteen men.
But some of them were reportedly killed by security operatives in separate gun battles with others serving jail terms at the Kirikiri prisons.
But the remaining suspects who were apparently undeterred by the death and arrest of their partners in crime continued until they met their water loo last Friday, following their subsequent arrest by policemen attached to Festac Division.
The suspects, as gathered, carried out a successful operation and fled the scene before the arrival of the policemen. But acting on a tip off, one o f them was reportedly arrested and his confessional statement led to the arrest of others.
The suspects
One of the arrested suspects identified as Oghenero Udugba, was discovered to be a staff of Ojo local government in Lagos State. The 25-year-old school certificate holder, in this interview, denied indulgence in any operation with the gang, revealing that all he did was to rent his motorcycle to the gang.
Hear him, “ I am not a robber. I have never robbed in my life. If you call me a thief, I will not deny that because I have stolen my parent’s money several times . But robbery, no,no,no. I am a cultist . I belong to Aro confraternity. I am the cult’s strike- man. I only deal with opposition cults anytime there is fracas”.
Asked why he was fingered, he responded, “ I am a member of the |Task force on Okada in Ojo local government and I have two motorbikes which I rent out for commercial purposes.
I usually rent it to one Friday, who unfortunately, is not here. I was made to understand he is the head of the gang and he usually came for it anytime he and members of his gang were going out on operation”
Asked if he knew Friday as a robber, he kept mute and gave a blank stare.
Unlike the Delta state born Oghenero, another member of the gang who identified himself as Samuel Joseph, disclosed that he joined the gang two years ago solely for the purpose of making enough money that would help him get a shop and start up a business.
The Bayelsa state-born suspect who looked so pensive, blamed himself for what he was going through , regretting not to have quit when the thought of it initially struck him.
Said he, “ I was initiated into the gang last year and have gone on operation ten times with the gang. We operated between Mile -Two and Ajagbandi. I really do not know how much we make in a day because I am not the gang leader. But I was always given a reasonable share of the loot.
What we usually did was to rent a motorcycle (okada) depending on our number. For instance, if we are six or four, we would rent two and if we are eight , we would either rent three or four. We do not usually stay in one location.
We would spread ourselves along the route and our leader would have told us when to leave. We only strike whenever traffic has built up. We would go from car to car, with guns and other weapons that would scare our victims. I have never raped any lady in the course of an operation.
After operation , we would go to our base around Okokomaiko , from where we would all tender the loots to our leader, Jeda, who would count and give us our share. I was tempted to continue after I got N10,000 from the first operation. I have made over N250,000 since I joined the gang, out of which I bought two motorcycles.
I usually rent one of them to my gang for operation at the end of which they would add to my normal share. My plan was to make more money to rent a shop and buy tools with which to enhance my generator repairer work, after which I would quit”.
On his part, another suspect, Enitan Durojaye, a 22 -year-old from Edo state stated, “I am the gang’s armorer . I once escaped arrest last year where members of my gang were arrested. My job is simple,
I keep the gang’s weapons in our compound for safety. After each operation, I would wrap them with a cloth, put them inside a polythene bag before hiding it. Sometimes, I hid it in the ceiling and at other times, I would hide them where they usually kept unused items. Anytime they collect and return the guns, they would give me N15,000. Honestly, I do not rob with them, I only keep the guns for them”.
For Idowu Eguaikede, he wondered why he would be arrested having left the gang last year. He claimed to be the gang’s former armorer but was sacked when the guns in his possession suddenly disappeared. According to him, “ I have never gone on any operation with them since the loss because they barred me from the gang.
The only thing is that anytime I stumbled on either of them, they usually gave me money . I wonder why they implicated me when they were arrested because since last year, I have not gone on operation with them”, asked the perplexed school drop out. The suspects, as gathered, would be charged to court soon.
Vanguard
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