Police smash robbery syndicate which killed 25 cops

The suspects

The Ogun State Police Command has burst a ring of notorious armed robbers allegedly responsible for the death of no fewer than 25 security operatives in some states in the country.

The group is also alleged to have been terrorising the South West, Kwara and Kogi states.

A cache of arms and ammunition, recovered from the gang, included two AK

47 riffles, a wealthier P22 pistol with 49 rounds of live ammunition,two cut-to-size double barrel guns, 100 rounds of live AK 47 ammunition, 55 live catridges, assorted charms and two packets of Lexomil tablets.

The gang members were said to be allies of robbery kingpin, Abiodun Ogunjobi, alias Godogodo, recently arrested in Lagos.

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoye Ikemefuna, while parading three members of the gang at the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Magbon, Abeokuta, said the suspects, led by 32-year-old Adegoke Kasali alias Goke, who is physically challenged, had killed no fewer than 21 policemen since 2011 in the South West States, Kwara and Kogi states.

The other members of the robbery gang, paraded by the police, included Kareem Mumuni, aka Baba Owo, and Lawal Waliu, alias Ijoba. The female among them, Kemi Adesanya, alias Special, is currently receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the shootout with the police team.

Okoye told newsmen that the gang members had confessed to killing the former South West Coordinator and Ogun State Commander of the Vehicle Inspection Officer, Mr. Yomi Bamgbose, in 2011 as well as the killing of five policemen attached to the Quick Response Squad at the Ijemo Agbadu and Mowe/Ibafo areas one year ago.

The gang was also said to have allegedly killed about 11 policemen in Kwara and Lagos states and were responsible for the death of five policemen in the Imeko area of Ogun State, in a bullion van attack in September 2011.

They were also said to be responsible for the killing of four members of the Ogun State Vigilance Service and three filling station attendants in Ifo last June.

The suspects also allegedly snatched a Range Rover Sport Utility van from a popular Fuji musician, Wasiu Pasuma last August along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Okoye told newsmen that Kasali was injured in a shootout with the police and arrested by SARS, led by the Officer-in-Charge, Mohammed Tijani, in the Obele area, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic.

Kasali was said to have led the SARS team to the hideout of the other members of his gang in the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos State.

“On reaching there, his gang members opened fire on the team and the team replied fire for fire and killed three of the robbers while three were arrested and the others escaped,” he added.

He said efforts were on to arrest the fleeing gang members.

“The lady among them is the most deadly; she was the one shooting at the SARS men,” the police boss said.

Kasali told PUNCH Metro that he had killed about seven policemen.

Unable to use his left hand since childhood, due to burns he claimed to have sustained, Kasali said he regretted his involvement in crime.

He said, “This is the work of the devil. I cannot fathom why I’m into armed robbery. It’s beyond my comprehension. I’ve lost count of the policemen I’ve killed but they can’t be less than seven.

“I was also part of the gang that killed the four vigilance service men and three petrol attendants in Ifo. On that day, we operated with Godogodo. Godogodo was our boss and he hated seeing policemen.

“We also killed two people at the Baptist Church in Sango Ota. I want to advise those still engaged in armed robbery to give up. I’ve been in this job in the past seven years.”

The police commissioner had earlier paraded five members of a highway robbery syndicate, which specialised in laying ambush for trucks loaded with goods on the expressway.

The gang members, including Sola Bamigbade, Abidemi Tajudeen, Kehinde Oguntade, Aliu Hamzat and Joseph Ebenezer; were arrested after robbing a cable wire dealer of goods worth N25m last week at Ogere, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

PUNCH