‘My father didn’t know I was a robber’

In May, 2013, at about 8am, four trailers drove into Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria Limited, a Pharmaceutical Manufacturer company, located at Plot C2/3, Km 32, Agbara Industrial Estate, Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Agbara, Abeokuta North, Ogun State. The four trailers were occupied by a 13-man gang of robbers.
They were in military and navy uniforms, armed with guns. Innocent eyes thought the uniform men were escorts that came with the trailers to transact business at the warehouse.
The day was a Sunday; a day when the ever busy street was as quiet as a graveyard, with most residents having gone to churches. The gang had allegedly robbed that company close to 15 times.
That Sunday’s operation led to the gang’s waterloo. The gang moved into the company’s warehouse, secured a family living in a quarter attached to the company.
They met five victims in the house: two females and three males. One of the robbers raped one of the female victims, before proceeding to tie them.The victims’ mouths were cello taped, while their eyes were blindfolded.
Their legs and hands were also tied with rope brought along for the operation by the gang. Months after the operation, the gang finally met its waterloo.
While some of the gang members are still at large, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), has arrested about nine gang members, identified as Deji Akinwunmi, Okiefa Gods power, Shola Komolafe, Ezekiel Dikeocha, Tunde Oyedele, Osagedele Happy, Taiye and Kehinde Balogun (twin brothers), and Samuel Kingsley.
Some of the gang members revealed the role each of them played. Deji Akinwunmi, 24, an undergraduate with Gateway Polytechnic, 300 level, studying Electric-Electronic, the leader of the gang, came to work in the Pharmaceutical company as a security guard attached to Asco Security Company.

It was then he discovered how easy it was to steal the 25kg bags of raw chemicals (Soap Nodules) used in manufacturing of products. He confessed that he and his gang members had robbed the company several times.
According to him, they used to be just six members who used to steal the bags of chemical, moving the chemicals with faragone buses, but the gang soon met a buyer who wanted larger quantities, forcing them to re-cruit more gang members, who came with guns and military uniforms.
Akinwunmi said that after some members of Asco Security were taken off the Pharmaceutical Company, he had gone to Uniliver to work, but the lure of the easy money at Reckitt Benckiser kept drawing him like a magnet.
His friend, Tunde Oyedele was, however, still with the company. Akinwunmi said: “Yes, we’ve robbed the company several times. Before, we used to move like 80 bags. We sell each for N1, 250. The real value in the market, however, is N6, 800. We moved them with farragone buses, but as time progresses, we started selling for N2000, per bag.
But the buyer used to add N500 to our money in appreciation. On the last operation, we were 13 members that went for the operation. We went with four trailers. “My share of the money from the operation was over N1million. I used the money to run my school programme.
I paid my Dad’s six month house rent, paid his medical expenses for his knee which was hurting him. I rented an apartment for myself and furnished it.” Asked why his dad didn’t ask him how he was getting his money, Akinwunmi said: “He knows that I work at Unilever Company. He didn’t know that I was steal.
Akinwunmi’s best friend, Okiefa Godspower, 27, aka Biggy, said that he used his own share of the millions from the robbery operation to go after women. According to him, he was also a security guard with Asco Security.
It was when he was posted to Nestle Foods that he met Akinwunmi, another Asco staff and a friendship blossomed. His words: “Later Deji was posted to Reckitt Benckiser warehouse.
Whenever I go to his house, I would see sachets of foreign Dettol. He used to give me some.
Later I started seeing bags of them. I asked him questions and we reasoned together. We decided to go and steal some of the bags of the item from the warehouse.
“Deji had already figured out a way to be able to gain access into the warehouse and steal the items. Even if the warehouse was locked, we could just push it from the edge and it will open.”
As one of the former guards attached to the warehouse, Deji also knew that at night, guards on duty go to sleep in the quarter close to the warehouse.
“We used to go and steal from the warehouse whenever Deji was on morning duty or off,” said Godspower.
“The first time we went to steal, we went at about 12am and carried eight bags of the chemical.
We took them to Alaba Rago, met one Alhaji who said he didn’t like buying in small quantities. It was that statement from the Alhaji that made us decide to embark on bigger operation, whereby we recruited more members.”
He continued: “We realized that the two of us just couldn’t handle the job alone anymore.
Kingsley lives close to me and he had been asking me what I was doing to live and maintain an expensive lifestyle. He wanted to know the way, but I refused to open up to him.
He went to Deji, who brought him into the gang.” He confessed that they used to sell the chemicals to Alhaji Yussy, Alhaji Hassan Badamossi and one Taiyo Olagunju.
When they decided to steal more stuffs, they hinted Olagunju who advanced them N100, 000 to get four trucks for the operation. Godspower recalled: “On the day of the operation, which was a Sunday, we were about 13 gang members that went to the warehouse.
Joseph and Emma had joined our gang. They both came with guns. Ezekiel, Emma and Joseph were in army camouflage uniforms.
I bought those uniforms at Vespa market. Another of our gang member, Odu was in navy merchant uniform. Police are still hunting for Odu, Emma, Harmony and Joseph. Odu was armed with two guns.
Harmony came with the cello tape used to seal the mouths of the victims. It was Ezekiel who brought Emma and Joseph into the gang because they had access to guns!
“After the operation, my share of the money was over a million naira. I opened a viewing center, bought a plasma television set, a Gulf car, rented and furnished an apartment and used the rest to pick, date, wine and bed women!”

‘The only way to join gang was to get guns’
‘The only way to join gang was to get guns’ Ezekiel Ezekiel, 28, confessed that his undoing was his obsession with living big. He received N800,000 from the last operation and had already used part of it to travel to Dubai.
He got a job in Dubai as a bouncer and came back to Nigeria to perfect his residence permit documents when police swooped on him. Ezekiel lives on the same street with Godspower, but was not on speaking terms with the guy.
But because Godspower rides a Gulf car, dresses well, Ezekiel chose to become friendly with him.
He nagged Godspower endlessly to reveal to him how he made his money, even though he knew Godspower was not working. When Godspower refused to play ball, he went to Godspower’s friend, Akinwunmi, who welcomed him into the fold.
Ezekiel said: “I met Biggy (Godspower) in a bar and told him that my job was not paying well, but he didn’t give me a positive response. I went to Deji. Deji said the gang needed guns.
Deji said the gang would allow me to join if I could get guns. I knew Emma when I was working at Unilever. I told him about needing guns. He laughed and said it was a small thing. He promised to get the guns as long as the gang allowed him to go with them on the operation.”
On the fateful day of the operation, Ezekiel was part of the people who handled the victims. He revealed that the victims were two females and three males. “We collected their handsets.
I later left Emma and Harmony with the victims. After the operation, Emma started laughing, I asked him what was funny, and he said Harmony did something bad. That Harmony raped one of the girls. My share from the operation was N800, 000. I went to Dubai, got a job and came back for some documents, only for police to arrest me!”

‘Spending my birthday in SARS is painful’
Tunde Oyedele, 30, is married and has a little daughter. April, 14, 2014, was his 30th birthday.
But rather than spend it with his wife, kid and friends like he did last year, he spent it in SARS custody, among other suspected criminals like himself. Eyes brimming with tears, Oyedele lamented: “I’m so sad that I’m spending my 30th birthday in SARS! I wouldn’t wish this for anybody.
Last year, by this time, I was dancing and enjoying with my wife and friends. I regret going into this criminal act. Let other young men learn from my mistake!” Oyedele was working in Reckitt Benckiser Company as one of the promo staff. It was there he met Deji, an Asco security guard and became friends with him.
The duo soon began to steal together. According to police, it was Oyedele who brought the buyers of the stolen items to the gang, but he denied the allegation, insisting that he, Godspower and Deji went to Alaba Rago to source for the buyers.
He added: “In the last operation, my share of the money was N200, 000. Taiyo gave me N50, 000 as gift for bringing business his way. I used part of my money to rent an apartment.”

‘I robbed only four times with the gang’
Samuel Kingsley, 24, was not happy that he was being lumped together with the gang.
As far as he was concerned, the gang had robbed the company several times over, but he had only robbed with the gang four times and as such should be pardoned.
He was working as waiter at Golden Destiny Hotel, located at Ajao Estate, receiving N15, 000 every month as his salary when he simply got fed up and quit. He said: “I spent my salary on transportation to and from office. I live at Agbara and work at Ajao Estate.”
It was after he resigned from the hotel job that he teamed up with his friends, to rob Reckitt Benckiser Company. He said: “Godspower initiated me into the gang.
I got initiated in 2010. In the first operation I collected N40, 000. I had robbed only four times with them. “I didn’ t even go on the last operation with them. I made up my mind after the fourth operation to stop. “I stopped for different reasons.
I stopped because I felt we were getting deeper into crime and because I discovered that I was not using the money realised from the robberies for anything useful. But most importantly, I stopped because I knew Deji and Biggy were cheating us!”