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| IGP. Suleiman Abba |
According to some residents who spoke with our reporter, the robberies started with the bandits tailing residents to their homes as they return from their offices, then metamorphosed into bandits knocking on residents’ door. They soon got bored with that method and resorted to another deadlier strategy.
This time, they would come to victims’ homes, cart away all valuables, including furniture, into the victims’ vehicles and disappear. This latest stunt is giving residents sleepless nights.
Many residents have become recipients of this new robbery style. A victim, who does not want his name in print, said: “They trail you when you’re returning from office. They’ll enter your home with you and rob you. Robbers, who used to knock, would just head straight to your door. They’ll knock and thinking the person might be a visitor, residents are tricked to open their doors.
The robbers then storm into apartments and robbing unsuspecting residents. Now, they’ll rob you, collect your property and cart them away in your car!” There is tension in the area as residents refused to mention their names and did not allow their photographs to be taken.
According to them, they are suspecting that some of the armed robbers are living within the community. They also believe that some of the robbers, who are suspected cultists, are working with some unscrupulous police officers in the town.
The residents implored Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoye Ikemefuna, to tackle the insecurity in the area with high level of seriousness, adding that the daredevil robbers have turned the community into Automated Teller Machines (ATM), where they attack and rob whenever they are financially down. Mrs. Adenike Bilewu, who braved all odds, recalled one of such robberies as she once a victim.
She said that robbers stormed her home on September 25 and operated for over six hours. They even sat to eat and drink. She said: “I was in the sitting room, watching television with my niece when my husband came back from work around 10pm.
We didn’t know that five men had scaled the fence into our compound and were waiting to follow him into the house. “They were armed with axes, machetes and two guns. After getting inside, they ordered us to lie face down. They asked us if we had huge amount of money in the house.
While three of them kept watch over us, two ransacked the house. When searching, they found two car keys in the room and asked us to identify them. They packed all our clothes, wedding rings, three ATM cards, camera and other valuables into our two cars and went away with them.”
Bilewu recalled that around 11:30pm, the bandits, who were operating unchallenged and without any sign of being in a hurry, became hungry and leisurely asked if there was any food in the house.
“I told them we didn’t have any food, except fruits and drinks. They ate our fruits and washed it down with drinks. After taking their dinner, they asked us for our ATM Personal Identification Numbers (PIN). We gave them wrong PINs.
Immediately, they had a short meeting and came back to us. One of them said, ‘two of our gang members will go and withdraw money from those accounts. If we discover that the PIN is incorrect, we will kill you all!’ Immediately, we gave them the correct PINs.
After giving them the PIN, one of them told the rest not to go to the bank, that he believed us,” narrated Bilewu. Satisfied that they had looted the house completely, the robbers left around 4am with their victims’ two cars – a green coloured Toyota Highlander with registration number FST502AJ and a black coloured Nissan Pathfinder with registration number KRD383BM. But before they left, they tied the entire household with ropes and abandoned them. By the time help finally came, it was already 9am.
The woman said: “I quickly ran to Ogijo Police Station to inform them about the robbery. My husband also visited the bank, to check if the robbers withdrew all the money in our accounts. The money they cashed from our accounts was around N500,000.”
Another angry resident who refused to disclose his name, said: “I tell you, armed robbers have turned our area into market square. What happened was that Ogijo usually had a vigilante group that monitors our area. It was then headed by a very powerful man called Elekunmefa.
The area was peaceful, but the leader of the group complained that the so-called indigenes were obstructing his duties in that most of the robbers are their children and when caught, their fathers stand against the vigilante group, even in the law court, to ensure they are let off the hook.
“In annoyance, the man relocated to Shagamu and is today the head of Ogun State Vigilante Service. Immediately he left the area, armed robbery descended on the community, operating with impunity both day and night,” he said.
According to him, two months ago, around 6pm, robbers attacked a poultry feed mill and carted away handsets, laptops and workers’ salary. He narrated: “After each incident, the police usually asked us the same question: ‘who do you suspect?’ People of Ogijo are tired of the police and such questions!
Every month, we pay vigilante fee. But despite all that, the security in Ogijo is zero! I think the Commissioner of Police needs to come to our aid. Ogijo is an important town to both Lagos and Ogun states! Vigilante group here is trying, but they seem to be incapacitated.
It has reached a level whereby people have started moving out of the area, seeking accommodation elsewhere. I pity those who build houses here because they have nowhere to go. As for we tenants, when we are tired of this place, we’ll relocate.”
The residents said that they had constantly reported each robbery incident to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ogijo Divisional Police Station and the police repeatedly refused to do anything. A resident spat: “If the police can even start patrolling the area, we’ll feel a bit safe! The robbers may become scared at the presence of policemen.
But the police are just there, behaving as if they have compromised!” Investigation revealed that Ogijo is a large community, having over 130 communities/ villages under it, but with only one police station. “The DPO has been there for over six years now. Maybe he needs to change his tactics of security operation or ask for more policemen,” said a resident. “One police station is not enough to police Ogijo.
We have over 130 villages or communities, depending on what you want to call it. Moreover, all the armed robbers chased away from Lagos State are hibernating in Ogun State and Ogijo in particular to seek safe havens.”
Attempts to speak with the Ogun State Police spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi over the matter was unsuccessful as calls made to his phone numbers did not go through.
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