Television presenter: Robbers threatened me with their machetes

Taiwo Jimoh

A television presenter has narrated how some suspected armed robbers threatened her with machetes and collected her valuables from her.

The presenter, who didn’t want her name mentioned, said that she was robbed after she boarded a tricycle.

The presenter was robbed by 23-year-old suspected robber, Timileyin Adebayo and three others, who specialised in using a tricycle to dispossess unsuspecting passengers.

Adebayo was arrested alongside three others by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command.

According to the police, the four suspects, on July 12, 2019, while pretending to be passengers in a tricycle, used knives and cutlass to dispossess a lady of her belongings.

During interrogation, Adebayo mentioned names of three members of his gang, Olabanji, Ahmed and Lekan.

Adebayo said: “The last operation, where I robbed a television presenter, was my fifth robbery operations with the gang. I joined the robbery gang this July. For every robbery operation I took part in, I was given N8, 000. No matter what we made, that is what they used to give to me. I guess it’s because I joined the gang late. They don’t treat me as one of them.”

Adebayo, a former bus conductor, said he was a replacement for a gang member that left.

He said: “We used to rob between Coca-Cola and Ogba and Ikeja. We used knives and cutlass to collect phones and other valuables from people.”

A television presenter, who Adebayo and his gang robbed, who pleaded anonymity, said that the gang robbed her at about 10:00 p.m. at Coca Cola Bus Stop, Ikeja while she was in a tricycle.

The presenter said: “They were all men in the tricycle; I didn’t suspect anything because there were other tricycles there. I noticed that as soon as the driver linked Wempco Road, two passengers at the back, and the one sitting in front, brought out knives and cutlass. They threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate with them. Out of fear I gave them my two phones, jewelry and some money. They later pushed me out of tricycle while on high speed.

“I was struggling to get up to avoid oncoming vehicles from hitting me, a cyclist assisted me and we pursued them. We caught up with them at Akilo Road; unfortunately for us, they used their tricycle to hit us. It was at that point that RRS patrol team saw us and chased the robbers. The robbers abandoned their tricycle and fled in different directions. They were later arrested. Their tricycle and a dagger were recovered from them.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Muazu, in his reaction to the development, directed the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (SCIID) Panti, Yaba, for further investigations.