A mother of four has narrated how
petrified she was when she woke up around 5am and discovered three gunmen in
her one room apartment at Odunfa Street, Ebute-Meta, Lagos State.
The woman, Mrs. Bunmi Ajiboye, who
said her husband was not around on the fateful day of the incident, explained
that immediately she clamped eyes on the menacing looking men, she had thought of
how to protect her four kids and her kid sister, Ope.
She said: “I have four kids. They
are two boys and two girls. The first is eight years, the second five years, the
third is three years and the last is a year old. I was scared my kids would
wake up. I didn’t want the men to turn on them. In fact, so many things flashed
through my mind.”
The incident occurred on June 12,
2015. The bandits had seized the opportunity of the public holiday to swoop on
the residents in the area. The robbers took her money and phones.
Just as the robbers left Ajiboye’s
apartment, they noticed that her neighbour had stepped out of his apartment to
switch off his generator. They sneaked up on him and pointed their guns on him.
They compelled him to walk them into his apartment. They took their sweet time
in robbing him. They made away with over N200, 000 and carted away the man’s
wife’s jewelry before biding him a cheery goodbye.
Ajiboye said: “The time was exactly
5:35 am. It was on a Friday. The three men entered my apartment armed with
three pistols. I was asleep when I heard their footsteps. They were
pussy-footing. They didn’t want me to hear. Perhaps they wanted to rob and
leave before I woke up. I thought the footsteps were those of my kid brother.”
Ajiboye explained that her brother
had left earlier, leaving the gate to the apartment open. It was this open gate
that made it easier for the armed men to gain entrance into her home while she
was still sleeping.
“I was sleeping when my brother got
up to take his bath. I however didn’t know when he left the apartment and went
to work,” said Ajiboye. “He told my sister, Ope, that he was leaving. Ope went back to sleep without shutting the
gate. Aside from the gate, the door to our apartment was also left ajar. I
guessed that was how the gunmen entered.”
When she turned from the other side
of the bed to know whom had entered, she saw the three men. She froze.
She recalled: “When I saw them I was
shocked! I tried to rise, but they ordered me to sit. They pointed their guns
at me and asked how much I had in the house. I couldn’t speak, but quickly
handed over my handbag to them. The handbag was close to my bed. They took my
money and phones. One of the men placed his gun against my cheek and used it to
begin to caress my cheek. I was scared and I prayed. He asked me where I kept
the rest of the money; I told them that all I had was in my handbag.
She continued her narration: “As I
continued to feel the cold nozzle of the gun on my face, I prayed in my heart.
I prayed and reminded God of his promises and covenant to his children.”
While the robbers were still
operating, Ajiboye’s one-year-old daughter, Ireoluwa, suddenly woke up,
plunging her mother into further worry and anxiety.
Ajiboye recounted: “As they
ransacked the house, searching for money and other valuables, they threw things
haphazardly. My little daughter, unaware they were bad men, just kept picking
up items the men flung around in their quest. They asked me the whereabouts of
my husband; I told them that my husband was not in Lagos.”
She further recounted: “At a point,
I heard a voice from outside. It was then I knew they were not three but four armed
robbers! The man outside said that they should be at alert because a man was walking
towards them. It was at that point, they left my room. Immediately they left my
room, I quickly locked the door from behind. It was from my room that I saw
them going over to handle my neighbour as he stepped out to switch off the
generator.”
The neighbour, unaware robbers were
in the neighbour hood, sneaked up on him. They accompanied him into his own
apartment, pointing guns at him.
Ajiboye added: “The robbers wouldn’t
have had access to my neighbour’s apartment if he had not stepped out to put
off his generator. Although the robbery was unexpected, at a point I stopped
experiencing fear. Maybe I had made up my mind that what will be, will surely
be!”
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