The boats were donated in 2011 at a ceremony attended by former governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola following the incessant use of the waterways by armed robbers who specialised in robbing banks.
Following last month’s bank robbery attack at FESTAC Town, during which millions of naira were stolen, and a nursing mother and her child were killed, questions had arisen why the police did not use the gunboats to purse the robbers who escaped through the waterway. However, a source in the Marine Police revealed that two of the boats were no longer functioning due to lack of maintenance. He said:
“The gunboats are four, not six. Two of the gunboats are working, but the other two have engine problems. The two boats that make them six are not gunboats. They don’t have General Purpose Machines Guns.” An insider at the Marine Police said that since the ex-IG handed over the gunboats to the police, it had never been used for once. He added: “Even the engines are not expensive to replace.
Ordinarily, fishermen can even buy and replace them. But instead of replacing the engines, the gunboats have been abandoned at the Marine Police Onikan office.” It was also gathered that policemen attached to the Marine Police prefer to chase pipeline vandals than run after armed robbers.
According to the source, the police preference for pipeline vandals is “because they are sure they (police) will collect their cuts after vandals had siphoned fuel.” “They had never arrested any robber fleeing on the waterway since that gunboats were given to them,” he added. Another source said:
“These bank robbers have people watching the Marine Police. Whenever we get the call and rush out, we wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them and genuine soldiers because of their military uniforms. Moreover, going close to them could mean suicide mission.” A senior officer at the command also complained that the command did not have enough gunboats and personnel, adding that the state waterways have many entries and exits, making them porous and difficult to track fleeing bandits.
The source said: “The Marine Police do not have enough men. Even the working boats are being fuelled by the personnel with their own money. We don’t even have enough boats and routes on the waterways are too many. Most times, when bank robbers attack, we would be called to block all exits, we don’t have enough boats and manpower.
The exits are too many. “I understand that the state government is making plans to buy new set of gunboats for the police. There are also plans to repair those not functioning.” In June, 2011, Fashola handed over six gunboats to the Marine Police. Speaking back then, Fashola had said the Lagos State Security Trust Fund would give the necessary support to ensure that the state was not only protected on the land and air, but also on the sea. He had said: “The six gunboats will complement existing capacity of the state command to protect the waterways and allow them to remain viable for what nature and God intended them for, which are for the prosperity.”
Fashola had said anyone who threatened security on the state land or waterways threatened the livelihood of the people of Lagos. The then Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Yakubu Alkali had said: “It is only hoodlums who want to commit suicide that will dare take on the Marine Police.
These gunboats are not only high-tech, they are fast, highly maneuverable and deadly; faster and deadlier than anything the hoodlums can ever boast of.” These “waterway robbers,” always in military camouflage uniforms; have stormed Lagos State four times in the last one year. The first time was at Lekki, second and third time at Ikorodu and the fourth time was FESTAC. They were armed with sophisticated rifles, including General Purpose Machine Guns and explosives. In every attack, they escape through the waterways.
How bank robbers plan, recruit members?
There are definitely no hard or fast rules when it comes to planning for a bank robbery. It usually takes someone, most likely the leader, to come up with the idea and target. In Lagos State, Alaba Rago in Iyana-Iba area, Katagwa and others areas still remain the easiest spots to recruit robbers. Most of the robbers know one another.
Some of them are ex-convicts and might have met in prison at a time while there may be few pickpockets or petty thieves among them. Many suspects have often confessed that they were recruited in a ‘beer parlour’ through friends, but mostly at Indian hemp smoking joints. The waterway robbers, who are at present the headache of Lagos State security agencies, government and residents are however far more sophisticated than the ordinary robbers.
They recruit their members at Niger Delta and only pick boat operators in Lagos to take them to their target. According to the confessions of some of the boat operators arrested after the Ikorodu and Lekki bank robberies, they were not even told the nitty-gritty of the operation. These suspects confessed that the planning of the bank robberies, in which they participated, didn’t take more than 30 minutes.
Anti-Robbery policemen however believed that the Niger Delta bandits had already planned the recent bank robbery and only came down to Lagos to fine tune and put finishing touches to the plan. The suspects said that to plan robberies, they met at a creek in Ajegunle area of Ikorodu after receiving phone calls from some militants who are also pipeline van-dals.
The FESTAC robbery attack was led by a man identified as ‘Million,’ who used to braid his hair to give the impression that she is a woman. It was also discovered that 12 members of the gang were recruited from the Niger Delta region. The boat operators are Omoboye, alias Alarm blow, 39; Bright, 25; Ikuesan, 37, and Abiwa, 20. Bright said his friend, Akpan, took him to the gang, adding that they trained on how to hit their targets. Bright recalled:
“My role was to stand outside, with one of the pump action guns, shooting sporadically. I was also instructed to shoot at anyone who dared to intrude, while the boys recruited from Warri confronted the police.” Before embarking on an operation, the gang would have got all the guns and explosives needed. They would have also carried out surveillance of the target. Some police detectives believe that the robbers have insiders in the banks, while others said they survey the banks by posing as customers.
How bank robbers escaped after operations
According to Bright, the gang members had more than enough ammunition. Speaking of how to escape, he said: “At the end of the operation, we escaped in a speed boat and went to the creeks, where the loot was shared. At the creeks, we analysed the operation and Million said we did well, promising to use us for subsequent operations.” The waterway gang used to come through the water and escape through the same route.
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