Their brazenness proved too costly for them when they were apprehended immediately they left the premises of a church at Yemetu area where they had tried to break into the church’s safe and had taken some money they could lay their hands on. The time was the early hours of Wednesday May 18, 2011. The gang members namely Adeyinka Osawenmhe, Steven Emmanuel, Daniel Udo, George Omorogiowa, Chukwuemeka Njimanaja and Chukwudi Eze had scaled the fence of the church, held the security guard and forced him to lead them to the pastor’s office.
They reportedly ransacked the office and tried in vain to break the safe. However, they were able to achieve a little opening through which a few naira notes were picked. When they saw they could not get anything more and the day was breaking, they decide to leave but the guardian angel of the church of God shone light on them and marked them out for arrest as they were stopped by some security men along the road who noticed their movement. While one of them escaped, two others were apprehended while other members were arrested through information given by those arrested.
Before the gang’s operation in the church, Sunday Tribune gathered that they had operated three days before then at an hotel along Onireke road where they carted away electronics and also robbed some lodgers. They were reported to have used a lodger’s car to take the items away, after which the car was abandoned somewhere. They later contacted one Abdusalami Ali a.k.a. Salako who received the stolen items from them and gave them cash in return.
The gang members were among those paraded at the Eleyele headquarters of the Oyo State Police Command on Thursday June 16. Speaking with Sunday Tribune in turns, the arrested gang spoke individually on how they got involved:
“My name is Gbenga Adeyemi. I belong to the OPC group and we use gun for security. I was the one who sold gun for the boys. The boys came and told me they were cultists and needed a gun to protect themselves in their cult group. I was not the person they came to directly, they linked me through one Ighabor Bamidele. I don’t belong to any cult group and that was the only gun I had. They paid N20,000 for the gun and the catridges.”
Narrating how he got involved, another suspect, George stated that he was a marine engineer but lost his job when the company he was working for was forced to shut down due to the activities of sea pirates. “I had no other means of survival and life and living became hard. I applied to many places but could not get a job. That was how my friends and I came up with the thought of robbery . We put money together and bought a gun. I only came with them for the operation we carried out in the church. I had never been to Ibadan before then. I regret my action now because it has brought me only shame. Ironically, I was told by my sister that a letter of appointment was brought to me from one of the companies I applied to after I had been caught. Only if I had been patient…”, George said regretfully.
Although Daniel Udoh, a native of Akwa Ibom, was not part of the last operation, he was among those who operated at the gang’s second but unsuccessful operation and the police was able to lure him to Ibadan, unknown to him that his members had been arrested. He was subsequently arrested. According to Daniel, “we could not penetrate the place I followed them to for operation because of the dogs that were there. We had to turn back and I returned to Lagos. I received a call to come to Ibadan, unknown to me that some of us had been caught.”
Chukwuemeka Njimanaja who said he obtained a diploma from the University of Ibadan and once worked with Nigerian Wire and Cable, Ibadan, revealed that “I was also part of the operations but we were not successful at the second one. It was at the last one that we were caught”.
Chuwudi Eze is from Anambra state. He told Sunday Tribune that after his university education, he was unable to get a job and was assisting his mum in her rental business. “However, sometimes she was not able to satisfy my needs and my siblings were mocking me that I was just staying at home and not making efforts to get a job. During discussion with George and others, we decided to form a robbery gang. I was part of our three attempts out of which one was successful”, he said
Also another member had this to say: “My name is Adeyinka Osawenmhe. I am 24 years old. I was training as a welder. After my father’s death, my sister was sponsoring me but she also died and I could not continue. I also had no means of survival. That was how I started breaking into shops with my partner, Daniel Udoh. I was later invited by my friends whom i used to meet at Waterside, Kirikiri, to form a gang and that was how we came to Ibadan to rob.
“On the issue of gun procurement, I tried to dissuade them from purchasing one but they did not listen to me. By the time we came to Ibadan, they had already bought the gun so I had no choice. Before we went to the hotel, we first went for surveillance there, pretending to be potential lodgers who wanted to know the cost of lodging. We later went back to the hotel some days later to rob the lodgers, including a foreigner, and the staff. We sold the electronics we stole to Salako.
“When we went for the operation in the church, I stood outside to be on the lookout and did not know what went inside though I was told they got some money. As we left the church and were going back, we were apprehended by the vigilante men around the place and the police were called. However, the person who held the money they got from the church escaped. His name is Solomon”.
The receiver of the stolen items, Abdusalam a.k.a. Salako, however claimed he did not know that Adeyinka and Co. were armed robbers. He said he thought they just wanted to sell off some of their property because they needed money. According to Salako “I deal in sale of fairly used mobile phones and electronics. Whenever anyone has any to sell, they get to me and I in turn also sell to a man at Sabo area. Concerning my arrest, I was given a laptop and a plasma tv to sell. One of them made to know that he was a yahoo boy and was broke. He added that he needed to sell his laptop.
The suspects were being detained at the State Anti- robbery Squad (SARS) unit, Dugbe where investigations were still on-going on their criminal activites while efforts were also being made to apprehend the member at large.
The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Baba Adisa Bolanta, told journalists during the parade of the suspects that futher investigations would be conducted by men of SARS, Ibadan after which they would be charged to court. He further warned crimimally-minded persons to steer clear of the state as the police were ready to turn the heat on them if they desist from doing so. culed from sunday tribune
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