‘Why our leader shot into private part of pregnant lady’

*Gang kills six sleeping men

Detectives attached to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT), gasped in shock and revulsion as they listened in rapt attention to confessions of eight men arrested for robbery in Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja.

The eight-man-gang of robbers, led by one Denis Avaughwa 24, aka Ava, has committed a lot of atrocities, including shooting into the private part of a heavily pregnant during a robbery operation in her apartment.

The shooting of the woman was said to have been done by Ava. He shot into the woman’s private part, right in the presence of her husband, to ensure she died. He then shot her husband’s two legs.

A member of the gang, Jonson Aikko, aka, Stigma, described the murder of the woman and shooting of her husband as needless.

The Ava led gang sometimes in 2015, while escaping after a robbery operation, stumbled on a six Fulani Herdsmen sleeping and opened fire on them. They killed them all.

According to them, they couldn’t join the big league of robbers for a long time because they didn’t have the right weapons. But the rhythm of their operations changed  after they met a prison official and policeman who started supplying them with ammunition.

After their arrest, police recovered three AK47 rifles and four revolvers from them.

The horrific killing of the pregnant woman occurred in November, when the eight men raided Supper Cell Estate, a highbrow area in Apo, FCT. Stigma recollected how the woman was killed.

He said: “I don’t know what came over Ava that night. It was as if he took drugs. We saw a pregnant woman in the first apartment we entered. We demanded for money. But it was clear she was consumed with fear. Ava screamed at her. She brought N150, 000 in N500 denomination. She handed the money to me. Before I knew what was happening, Ava opened fire on the woman. He shot into her private part.  I was stunned. He went on to shoot the woman’s husband. The woman’s husband lost two of his legs.”

Stigma said that aside from the pregnant lady and her husband, a middle-aged woman, Glory Uzoh, who recently moved to Abuja, from Lagos State, was shot in her abdomen and arm. The bullet perforated her abdomen and burst out of her back. Uzoh was said to have miraculously survived because the bullet narrowly missed her intestines.

According to the police, Ava is a notorious robber, who had been arrested twice for robbery and remanded in Kuje Prison in Abuja.

A police source said: “Ava formed a new gang in 2014 after he regained his freedom. The gang operated with three AK47 rifles and four locally made revolver rifles. They’ve carried out several high profile robberies around residential estates in Abuja. They used to cart away cash, exotic cars, jewelries, laptops and mobile phones during operations. The gang murdered six Fulani Herdsmen who they accosted in a bush while escaping after a robbery in Lugbe, Abuja.  They sighted the herdsmen sleeping and opened fire on them. They killed all of them at the spot.  Ava ordered the killing of the herdsmen in retaliation for their activities in his state.”

It was further gathered that after the November 2015 carnage, Arase, deployed SIRT to track the bandits and arrest them. 

After gathering sufficient intelligence reports, the operatives, led by a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Abba Kyari, stormed Nassarawa, Plateau and Bauchi states in search of the bandits.

Eight of them, plus the gang’s receiver, financier and arms supplier were arrested.

Those in police custody are Ibrahim Suleiman, aka, Scorpion, Jonson Aikko, aka, Stigma, Pius Gabriel, aka Double Spirit, Rabo Yakubu (arms supplier), Oladimaji Ikotun, ( alleged receiver and financier), Umaru Nda, Matthew Ofe and Nicodemos  Shittu. Others are Ava and Ogbona Chidubem aka 102.

The second leader of the gang, Nautical is on the run. Stigma described himself as the third in command after Ava and Nautical.

Stigma, 30, from Benue State, is a bricklayer who came to Abuja in 2009 and started residing at Gwagalada area of Abuja.

He said: “My story changed in 2014 after I became friends with two men from my state, Ava and Nautical.   I met them in a bar in Masaka, Nassarawa State. They bought me drinks. I told them that I was a bricklayer. They told me that I looked strong and could make good money if I joined their business, which I later discovered was armed robbery.”  

Stigma said that without thinking twice, he accepted the offer. He gleefully accepted because he was impressed by the way the men threw money around.

He added: “They took me to my first operation on the highway in Abuja, where we snatched bags from people. I was given N4000 and a smart phone as my share of the loot. I don’t know how much we made from that operation. Since I was new, I accepted what I got.  We also did some small robberies within Abuja and Nassarawa states. After each successful operation, Ava and Nautical usually travel back to Benue State, where they have farms. I believe they are investing their money in farming. But because we were using locally made revolver rifles, we found it difficult to execute big operations in Abuja.”

After the 2015 general elections, one of Ava’s friends, a political thug, came to Abuja with two AK 47 rifles. He said a politician gave them the guns during the elections. 

The thug, who said he was new in Abuja, said he wanted to the join the gang. Avan and Nautical accepted the rifles, but a week later, they told him that some farmers had found the rifles where they were buried in the bush. They told him that the farmers handed the guns to the police.

They told the thug that they were going to run way from Abuja because police would be searching for people that buried the guns.  The guy left Abuja and went back to Benue State.

Ava and Nautical joined him in the village to make him fall for their story. They came back to Abuja after two weeks and called Stigma.

Stigma recounted: “Nautical said that they were now ready for big operations! They said they needed ammunition. Ava contacted a prison official whom he met during his sojourn in Kuje Prison. The official linked him to a mobile police officer who started selling ammunition to us.  They sold a round of live ammunition to us for N400 each. We bought over 150 rounds for our first operation.”

The first operation, which was carried out after the rifles and ammunition came, was coordinated by Nautical. He was the one who picked the targets at Gold City Estate, an upscale residential area in Lugbe area of Abuja. He also brought five other guys, shooting the gang’s number to eight.

“On the night of the operation, we stormed the estate in a taxi. We scaled the fence and held the security men hostage. We started breaking into people’s houses.  The first thing we looked out for were keys of exotic cars parked within the estate,” narrated Stigma. “Four among the guys Nautical brought drove the vehicles out of the estate. Our buyers waited in Masaka. Once they arrived, trackers on the vehicles would be dismantled. The vehicles would be taken to Jos and other parts of the country. The moment the vehicles leave, we start ransacking houses, searching for money, jewelries   and other valuables.  We only leave when we hear police siren. We escape through the bushes in Lugbe.”  

He explained that they robbed the estate three consecutive times, using the same pattern and on each operation, the gang leaves with four or more cars.

He said that in their last operation, while they were escaping through the bushes, in Lugbe, “we saw six Fulani Herdsmen sleeping. We approached them. Avan ordered that we should kill them all because they were the ones killing our people in their farms in Benue State. I was carrying one of the locally made rifles. We rained bullets on them in their sleep, killing all of them. I felt no regret killing those people. They are very ruthless.”

After that operation, Stigma traveled home, but in November of last year, Nautical called all the gang members. He said he had information that there was money in some houses in an estate in Apo, Abuja. 

Stigma recounted: “We all met in a bar off Airport Road. When it was time, we boarded a taxi that took us to Super Cell Estate, in Inumba District, Apo. When we got into the estate, we shared ourselves into two groups. Nautical led a group, while I and Ava were in the second group. That was where Ava killed the pregnant lady and shot her husband.”

He remembered that after they left the apartment of the pregnant lady, they went to another apartment, but the owner refused to open her doors.

Fuming, Ava rained bullets on the door, to force it open, but the door refused to budge.

Stigma said: “We went through the kitchen and opened the door. We went in search of residents of the apartment. Ava was so angry when he saw the woman. He demanded for money. The woman gave him just N4000. This made  him angrier; he grabbed two of the woman’s children and threatened to kill them. She knelt and begged him. At that point, I went and held him. I told him it was okay; that we should leave. He said he wanted to kill the woman. I told him in our language that we have collected some jewelry and that the woman might not have money in the house. People don’t usually keep money in the house anymore. He turned around and ordered all of us out of the house. He said if we refused, he would kill us.  I obeyed him because I knew he could make good his threat. He has powerful charms. 

“As I stepped out, I heard rounds of gun fire. I believe Ava killed the woman because she gave him only N4000.  I also heard gun shots from other apartments Nautical was robbing.  I felt that they might have killed some of the residents who didn’t obey their orders immediately. When we left the estate, I was filled with guilt for taking part in such carnages.”

 A few days after that operation, news came that Ava and Ogbona Chidubem (102), had been arrested. Stigma said he immediately sensed trouble.

He remembered that the AK47 rifles were in his possession. He quickly took them to Jos, Plateau State. He sold them to a community leader who said he needed the guns to protect his community. 

Stigma claimed to have met the community leader through one ‘Small.’  This ‘Small’ was introduced to him by one Ola. The Ola is one of those who used to receive some of the gang’s stolen cars.

He said: “I sold the rifles to the community leader for N600, 000. I also bought 50 live ammunition from one Rabo who used to supply arms and ammunition to people in Jos.  I didn’t know how the police knew where I was; they stormed my house and arrested me.”

Rabo Yakubu denied being an arms dealer. He explained that he got the arms he sold to Stigma during a Boko Haram raid in his state. 

His words: “Some Boko Haram insurgents attacked my village in February 2015, and while they were being repelled by the military and local vigilante men, I stumbled on a bag containing ammunition. I have had the ammunition with me for a long time. I didn’t know what to do with them. When ‘Small’ called to say that he had someone who would buy the ammunition, I took it to him and sold it at N300 per one.  I didn’t know that he was an armed robber. I thought he was going to use them to protect his farm.”