The picture
below does not show what these men really look like when they stand on
the streets. This is because they have been in police custody and their guises have worn off. But on a good day, any man who doesn’t look closely can be easily fooled to believe they are women.
And clearly, many men must have fallen prey
to their wiles. These are hardened criminals who have terrified the
people of Ibadan. One of them, Lawal Kabir claims he is a devout Muslim
who considers Fridays and the Ramadan period as sacred and therefore, he cannot engage in robbery at such times.
He continues by saying that on Fridays he goes to the mosque to pray so that God would forgive all his criminal tendencies Ironically, he was arrested on Friday after observing the Jumat prayers.
According to him and the other suspects, they
had unleashed terror in places like Osun, Sawmill and Iyana-Agbala.
The eight-man gang confessed this and other crimes they had committed
to Crime Alert.
One of them, Ayodele Olaitan, 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 this in tears.
Lawal Kabir stated that he was driven into the criminal world out of business
failure. “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.”
Biola Alaba, the one with the weave-on, noted
that they were eight in number. They were arrested at a drinking joint
during a robbery operation at Bodija. He states he never killed 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.
Sunday Omooba from Ogbomoso, a member of the
Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, narrated that 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.”
Mr. Mohammed Indabawa, the State
Commissioner of Police related that, “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 their victims were contacted and they corroborated their confessions.
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