How dad turned me into a robber –Suspect -- PUNCH

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a gang of armed robbers who specialised in robbing traders and commuters in the early morning hours at the Iyana Oba and Badagry areas of Lagos.

Members of the four-man gang are Bode Oladejo, who is said to be the ring leader, Christian Opene, Matthew Nwachie, and a yet-to-be identified member, who the police said was still at large.

Our correspondent learnt that the police received a tip-off about the gang, and the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, directed the Special Anti-Robbery Squad team, led by Abba Kyari, to go after them.

It was further learnt that the gang members were arrested on Sunday, June 15, in the Ajegunle area of Lagos after they had returned from an operation.

The gang, our correspondent gathered, had raided a house on Tona Eradiri Street, Ajegunle, the previous day and dispossessed a man, Mr. Godwin Perebor, and two ladies of N285,000, two Automated Teller Machine cards and their company’s Identity cards, among other valuables.

It was learnt that the suspects told the police that they usually went to people’s houses at night with weapons such as guns and cutlasses to rob them. They also confessed to have been preparing for another operation on the Sunday they were apprehended by the police.

Twenty two-year-old Oladejo, who hails from Oro, Kwara State, said, he took to armed robbery because of his father’s irresponsible attitude at home which had also frustrated the family.

He said, “Since I was 11, I have been tearing people’s nets at night and breaking in to steal their property. I started to do this because my father had been irresponsible at home. Then, we were staying at Ikorodu, Lagos.

“At a time, the landlord sent us out of the house because my father did not pay up the rent. He travelled to Ibadan. My mother stayed back in Ikorodu. I became a street boy, trying to fend for myself. Since 2003, I have been robbing. It is all because of my father’s irresponsible attitude.

“I was initially using machetes to rob until I got a gun from one Monday. He sold the gun to me for N30,000. I usually robbed around the Iyana Oba and Okokomaiko areas. But I came to Ajegunle for an operation on that fateful day on the invitation of a gang member, Christian.”

Oladejo also confessed that he made about N50,000 on each robbery operation he participated in with the gang.

The second member of the gang, Opene, from Oghara, Delta State, said he invited the gang to rob Perebor, who was also his co-tenant, because the latter offended him.

He said, “Godwin (Perebor) and I used to work in a factory in the past before I joined the gang. At that firm, one of his friends poured hot water on me during a quarrel. I asked Godwin to take me to his house, but he refused, joining sides with his friend against me.

“When I joined the gang, I remember the incident and decided to teach him a lesson. That was why I arranged for them to rob him and two other ladies.”

The third gang member, Nwachie, a 20-year-old from Isele Ukwu, Delta State, said he took to stealing since he was 16, and had robbed several passengers and traders.

He said, “I was only using cutlasses. It is only Bode who carries a gun. With the money I realised, I took care of myself. But I also used my loot to smoke, drink and to have sex with women.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, had yet to reply a text message sent to her telephone number as of press time.