THE Oyo State Police Command recorded a major success recently when three suspects out of the eight arrested turned out to be Ekiti prison inmates who escaped during a jailbreak carried out by unknown gunmen on November 30, 2014.
The names of the three suspects are Boluwaji Olawumi (42), Isaac John (25) and Fagboyegun Wale (32). Five other suspects are Seun Owoeye (32), Ifeanyi Ogbuadu (21), Olaiya Iwalewa (38), Sulaiman Abass Omotitun (41) and Haruna Usman (18).
The Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Katsina, who disclosed this on Monday, March 30, during a press briefing, said that the gang snatched a Toyota Camry from one Mrs Oluwafolakemi Fabodede in Akure, Ondo State before coming to Oyo state to operate.
Investigations by Crime Reports revealed that the gang robbed at Zarech Pharmacy, Ogbomoso; Joba Pharmacy, Oyo and Mutlad petrol station along Oyo/Ibadan road, before moving back to Ogbomoso for another operation.
Four of the gang members were however nabbed by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo, whom the police commissioner described as his Ambush Squad and were led by Olusola Aremu, while on surveillance patrol on March 20. Katsina said investigations led to the recovery of an AK 47 rifle snatched from a serving policeman and other dangerous weapons, as well as the arrest of four additional members.
Crime Reports spoke with some of the suspects. Below are the excerpts from their confessions:
Boluwaji Olawumi (42)
I am from Ikere Ekiti. I was a driver in Lagos State before I joined robbery in 2014. I was introduced to robbery by a friend called Ebenezer. I knew him in Lagos State. He was a native doctor. He said we should be hijacking trailers so that we would make money. I was arrested the first time I followed him. We went to work along Akure-Igbara Oke road, Ondo State, but I was arrested while others escaped into the bush. That was May 2014.
I was transferred with two others to Ekiti State Police Command for reasons not clear to me, though I was the one who gave the police their names as the intending receivers of the goods we wanted to hijack. I was charged to court and remanded in prison custody.
On November 30, 2014, some gunmen carried out jailbreak and I seized the opportunity to escape.
I met one Kenneth while in prison but he was granted bail and left in August before the jailbreak. In February this year, I called Kenneth and he said he was in Delta State. He gave me the phone number of one Igwe. I called Igwe and he asked me to meet him at Benin garage in Akure. I met Isaac John and Wale with him when I got there.
Igwe said we should go to a man’s house at Ilogbo Ekiti to collect cash. When we got there, we noticed a man who we suspected to be a night guard. We jumped into the compound and met the man sleeping with an AK 47 rifle beside him. That was how we knew he was a police officer. We tied him and left with his gun without operating.
While in the bush, I called Kenneth to inform him that we had a police gun. He asked us to come with the gun to Ogbomoso where he said he was, telling us there was a place where we would carry out an operation based on information he was given, and that we would get about N6 million. Kenneth said he was a former student of LAUTECH, Ogbomoso. We snatched a car in Ekiti State which conveyed us to Ogbomoso.
We went to Zarech Pharmacy, Ogbomoso on March 9 at about 6 p.m. We were six in number – Kenneth, Igwe, Isaac, Wale, Abbey and I. However, we did not get any money. We left in anger and headed for Oyo. We operated at Joba Pharmacy at 9 p.m. We went with the AK 47 rifle and two locally-made pistols. I handled the AK 47 rifle while Kenneth and Igwe handled the other two guns.
We took the money we saw and left for Mutlad petrol station along Oyo-Ibadan expressway. We also got some money there and left for the bush at Ibadan-Ife toll gate area to share the money. We got N40,000 each and kept a little amount to buy ammunition. I did not know how to operate the AK 47 so I wasted the bullets at the Ogbomoso operation.
I was taking Kenneth and Igwe back to Akure when one of the vehicle tyres burst at Gbongan along Ibadan-Ilesa expressway. Before then, a bullet had penetrated the door at driver’s side when Wale was fiddling with the AK 47 rifle. Afraid that we might meet policemen on the way, we parked the vehicle, buried the guns in the bush and went our separate ways.
About a week after, Kenneth called and said a friend of his called Muri introduced him to a dealer who said he needed vehicles. I went to Akure where I met Ifeanyi, Igwe and Wale. Ifeanyi brought a bike and carried two of us. We dropped somewhere and snatched a Toyota Sienna. We took it to Ibadan and sold it to the dealer who called himself Oluomo. He paid us N180,000, saying he needed to carry out some repairs.
“I returned to my base in Osogbo, Osun State. On March 19, Kenneth called me again to ask about my whereabouts. He came with Isaac and Wale in a Toyota Camry (Muscle) car, driven by one Seun. We moved to Ogbomoso and lodged in a hotel at Orile-Igbon. At about 4 a.m., I heard a knock on my door and when I opened, I saw Seun with policemen. That was how I was arrested.
John Isaac (25)
I am from Emevhor in Delta State. I am a bricklayer. I was living in Otun Ekiti with a relation but ran to Ado Ekiti when I was being maltreated. I started riding okada. I was sent to prison when I stole four goats. I also used to snatch okada from riders by blowing ground pepper into the eyes. I had spent two years before the Sadiku group came to break the Ekiti prison. Sadiku was an Ebira who was brought to Ekiti prison. We learnt that he was the one his gang from Okene, Kogi State, came to release when they invaded the prison.
I was among those who fled that day. About 20 of us trekked from Ekiti State to Benin. We slept on a rocky plain in a bush at Benin, Edo State for about a week before Igwe left us. He later returned and gave us money with which we booked hotel accommodation at Owo, Ondo State. Others who had money left for different places.
“I knew Kenneth in prison and I called him after leaving prison. After settling down, we began robbery again.
Fagboyegun Wale (32)
I am from Ido Ani, Ondo State. I want to let you know that the reason I escaped from the prison with others was that we were always afraid of death. Most of those convicted during the Fayemi regime were given death sentences, whether guilty of not. Those who returned to prison willingly after the jailbreak must have been psychologically sick. I went to prison because I stabbed someone who smashed a bottle on my head in 2009 during a cult clash. I was a member of Aye cult.
“When I came out, I had no help from my family. I knew Kenneth through Igwe and that was how we started robbery. I followed Kenneth to snatch a Toyota Camry in Akure.
Wale, who talked tough throughout the interview, however said he believed his life would be full of testimonies if he should survive his current predicament. “You know that God usually uses tough people. I know He is interested in turning me round for good,” he said.
Source:Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment