A robbery
suspect, Monday Obebe, has told detectives attached to the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State that his life of crime
started while he was still in Junior Secondary School.
According to him, it was the need to pay his school fees that spurred him to embrace crime. He later graduated to armed robbery. Obebe, 28, who said he used to be a plumber, said: “I have gone to four operations with the gang. I was in Junior Secondary School (JSS 3) when I started stealing.
“My first crime? I stole a phone belonging to a teacher in my school and sold it for N3,000. I had to steal the phone because I wanted to pay my school fees. I don’t have a mother and my daddy is an old man. I attended Bariga Comprehensive High School.” Obebe was among three suspects arrested for robbery. The others are Gbolahun Lawal (26) and Beneth Kwum (20). They were arrested on December 17, 2014, at 7up, Ijora area of the state.
The police alleged that the suspects had carried out a series of operations at Ajah, Orile, Bariga and other places in Lagos before they met their waterloo. Police recovered two locally-made guns from them. The downfall of the gang began after the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, got information from an anonymous caller, about the activities of the gang. Aderanti instructed the Officer in Charge of SARS, Mr Abba Kyari, to track down the suspects.
A police source said: “The leader of the gang, Lawal, was arrested on December 17. Three other members, Wanne, Taiwo and Ceian are still at large. Kwum’s duty in the gang is to provide information on where they would go and rob. “He told the police that he was not going on robbery operations with the gang because he was known to the prospective victims.
“But the last operation was at Bariga. It happened before the suspects’ arrest. He had to go with the gang because none of the members knew the precise location of the house of the person they wanted to rob. “He, however, stayed outside while the gang members went inside to rob the man. The gang collected the victim’s Toyota Camry car, 2010 model, a laptop, gold necklace and other valuables.” The stealing of the Camry car was the gang’s undoing.
The gang members did not know the car had a tracker. Detectives were able to track the car to where the gang was about to sell it. Lawal, a lotto agent at Ijora area, said: “I have gone to five operations with the gang. I have gone with them to rob at Ajah, Orile, Bariga and twice at Oworoshoki.
“The first operation was not good because members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) disturbed us. In the Orile operation, I collected N26,000, while in the Ajah robbery, my share of the loot was N18,500. I was also given a laptop.” Lawal, who said that he got a gun for robbery from a friend who was a cult member, added that he embraced robbery because he was incurring a lot of debt in the lotto business. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest of the suspects. He said: “Three of the suspects were arrested and they had already confessed to some robberies in Lagos. Three of them are on the run but efforts are ongoing to arrest them.”
According to him, it was the need to pay his school fees that spurred him to embrace crime. He later graduated to armed robbery. Obebe, 28, who said he used to be a plumber, said: “I have gone to four operations with the gang. I was in Junior Secondary School (JSS 3) when I started stealing.
“My first crime? I stole a phone belonging to a teacher in my school and sold it for N3,000. I had to steal the phone because I wanted to pay my school fees. I don’t have a mother and my daddy is an old man. I attended Bariga Comprehensive High School.” Obebe was among three suspects arrested for robbery. The others are Gbolahun Lawal (26) and Beneth Kwum (20). They were arrested on December 17, 2014, at 7up, Ijora area of the state.
The police alleged that the suspects had carried out a series of operations at Ajah, Orile, Bariga and other places in Lagos before they met their waterloo. Police recovered two locally-made guns from them. The downfall of the gang began after the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, got information from an anonymous caller, about the activities of the gang. Aderanti instructed the Officer in Charge of SARS, Mr Abba Kyari, to track down the suspects.
A police source said: “The leader of the gang, Lawal, was arrested on December 17. Three other members, Wanne, Taiwo and Ceian are still at large. Kwum’s duty in the gang is to provide information on where they would go and rob. “He told the police that he was not going on robbery operations with the gang because he was known to the prospective victims.
“But the last operation was at Bariga. It happened before the suspects’ arrest. He had to go with the gang because none of the members knew the precise location of the house of the person they wanted to rob. “He, however, stayed outside while the gang members went inside to rob the man. The gang collected the victim’s Toyota Camry car, 2010 model, a laptop, gold necklace and other valuables.” The stealing of the Camry car was the gang’s undoing.
The gang members did not know the car had a tracker. Detectives were able to track the car to where the gang was about to sell it. Lawal, a lotto agent at Ijora area, said: “I have gone to five operations with the gang. I have gone with them to rob at Ajah, Orile, Bariga and twice at Oworoshoki.
“The first operation was not good because members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) disturbed us. In the Orile operation, I collected N26,000, while in the Ajah robbery, my share of the loot was N18,500. I was also given a laptop.” Lawal, who said that he got a gun for robbery from a friend who was a cult member, added that he embraced robbery because he was incurring a lot of debt in the lotto business. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest of the suspects. He said: “Three of the suspects were arrested and they had already confessed to some robberies in Lagos. Three of them are on the run but efforts are ongoing to arrest them.”
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