“You again”? This was the question posed by an operative of the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos, on sighting a member of a
robbery gang that was arrested recently by his colleagues.
The
suspect, Kolawole Ajayi, was discovered to have been arrested on two
occasions by the Squad for robbery and charged to court. Between 2006
till date, he was discovered to have served five years in jail. But
after serving each jail term, rather than turning a new leaf, the
recalcitrant suspect would go back to his own vomit, more hardened.
When approached, he stated with every sense of seriousness that robbery
was the only job he could do, attributing his act to frustration and
greed.
Hear him: “I am a School Certificate holder and also computer
literate. I was formerly selling computer and phone accessories at
Computer Village but I had no shop. All I was doing then, was to hawk
them along the street of Computer Village. That was since 2006. Along
the line, I started buying stolen goods and laptops from some of my
friends in computer village. You see, most of the items they sell
along the street in Computer Village are stolen. But because I was
making huge profits from it, I could not resist the temptation of
continuing.
“I was arrested in 2006 by policemen from Mosafejo
division for buying a stolen laptop. I was charged to the Igbosere High
court but was granted bail, after awaiting trial for two months in the
prison.”
His mere visit to the prison apparently opened his eyes to
other acts of criminality,as barely had he returned than he graduated
into other forms of robbery.
“In 2007, after I was released, I
got a gun and started robbing people at gun point. It was a one man’s
show. I stole laptops and phones at gunpoint. But again, I was
arrested and charged to the Ikeja High Court, from where I was
remanded in Kirikiri prison where I spent two years”.
After serving
his two years jail term, he reportedly continued what he knew how to do
best and as expected, was arrested, charged to court and ended up in
his second home, the Kirikiri prison for the third time!
Like a dog
that would always return to its vomit, the Ogun state-born suspect who
was released after one year, continued his heinous crime. But this time
around, he decided to form his own gang which specialized in armed
banditry.
“After I was released in 2012, I went to the African
shrine in May, where I met Olalekan, Femi, Sylvester and Lucky. We got
friendly and exchanged phone numbers and from there I formed a gang of
five. So far we have operated in areas like Ikosi, Ketu, Ogudu, Dolphin
estate and Magodo.
And our targets are usually residential homes.
Before operation, we would just be roaming round the area until we see a
building we could easily penetrate”
The gang as gathered, started
operating in June. In the month of December, they reportedly intensified
their operation in preparation for the Christmas celebration. But
unfortunately for them, they met their water loo, following their
arrest.
The gang as gathered, stormed a building at Dolphin Estate,
Ikoyi, in the first week of December, where they dispossessed their
victims of cash and other valuables.
But while the operation was on,
one of the residents was said to have alerted policemen attached to
Dolphin division, who stormed the scene. Sighting the policemen, the
robbers scampered in different directions for escape. But
unfortunately for one of them later identified as Chibueze, he was
shot in the thigh as he attempted to scale through the fence.
He
was transferred to SARS and during interrogation mentioned the names of
other members of his gang. Sources at SARS said it took them two weeks
to trail Kolawole. His arrest, reportedly led to those of four members
of the gang.
Asked why he did not resign from robbery, he replied: ”
Robbery is the only job I can do. My several visits to the prison have
hardened me. So, I can’t do a decent job other than robbery.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer: Comments on this blog are not posted by the owner, therefore, the blog owner will not be liable for any comment made by readers.Thank you.