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| IGP, Adamu |
According to the police, three brothers
have so far been arrested in connection with the gang. While two have been
arrested, one is on the run. Police described them as “family of criminals.”
The suspects are Olaseum Ismali
(cousin), Aderemi Ali (brother) and Habbi Ali (brother). Police said that while
Ismali burgles shop, Aderemi specialized in stealing tricycles, which he gives
to Habbi to sell.
Ismali (31) was alleged to have
broken into several shops across major states, within south-west part of the
country. Ismali was arrested by operatives of IRT, alongside Aderemi.
Ismali blamed his father, a Muslim
cleric, for his criminal activities. According to him, if not that his father
married too many wives and couldn’t take care of him and his siblings, he
wouldn’t have taken to crime. Ironically, Ismali is married to three wives and
uses proceeds accrued from breaking into shops to take care of his wives and
children. He confessed to have also built a house through money made from breaking
and entry.
The police source said: “Ismali has
burgled several shops in Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Lagos states. The suspect specialised
in stealing several bags of rice and sugar. He also has a penchant for stealing
generators, electronic appliances, and vehicle batteries, among other things.”
It was gathered that Ismali ran into
trouble recently after IRT operatives, led by a by Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, got information about his activities and kept
him under surveillance. He was eventually arrested after police arrested Aderemi.
The police further said: “Ismali would
visit a target shop and survey the quantities of goods in the shop. When it’s
night time, he would drive close to the shop and waits. He waits until the shop
has closed for the day, and when he was sure the shop has no security guards,
he strikes, carting away as many goods as his vehicle could carry.
“Ismali is from a family of
criminals. IRT operatives used him as bait to catch Aderemi. It may interest
you to know that Ismali and Aderemi are brothers. Ismali burgle people’s shops
across the South-West, while his cousin, Habbi, who is yet to be arrested,
specialised in stealing tricycles. He hands them over to his elder brother,
Aderemi to sell."
Speaking with journalists, Ismali
said: “I dropped out of school when I was in junior secondary school (II)
because my mother couldn't afford to pay my school fees. My father
was an Islamic cleric and had too many wives. My mother was left with the sole responsibility
of caring for my siblings and I. I went to learn aluminum engineering in 2010,
but while an apprentice, I impregnated my girlfriend.”
The suspect continued: “There was so
much pressure on me. I had to quit my apprenticeship. I went into commercial
cycling. My wife finally walked out of the relationship. But I was still paying
the child’s school fees. In 2015, I met Olakunle in Epe. I carried him on my
motorcycle and we got talking. He told me that he was into breaking and entry. Our
first operation together was at Oshogbo. We were three that went for that
operation. We looted a shop, carting away 12 bags of sugar.
“I was given N12, 000 as my share. We
went for another operation in Ikere Osun State, where we stole a generator. I
was given N5000 after it was sold. The third operation was at Ibadan; we stole
10 bags of rice. I was given N15, 000 after it was sold. I had a fight with
Alimi and I returned to Epe, to meet my brothers. They gave me N200, 000, which
I used to buy a car. I started using the car as a cab. I plied Ibadan to Ibeju
Ode routes. After a while, I became greedy and started thinking that the money I
was making from the taxi job was poor, so I went back to breaking and entry.”
He recalled that his first
operation, after quitting taxi driving was at Ijebu-Ode. He said that he went
with Kehinde Osha. They stole 15 bags of sugar and sold them. He disclosed that
he gave Kehinde N40, 000 out of the N150, 000.”
He was having a field day, breaking
and entering different shops, cutting across different states, when he was
arrested and sent to Ikoyi Prison. He stayed in the prison for two months, but
was later granted bail. But rather than come out of prison a new leaf, Ismali
returned to his old ways.
Recounting his modus operandi, he
said: “I target less busy areas. Before I strike, I take time to monitor and
look for shops that had large quantities of bags of rice and sugar. When I
identified a shop, I sleep close to it, to know the level of security around
there. If security guards are there and saw me, I lie that I was a traveller,
caught by the night and wanted to sleep until daylight to continue my journey.
If there are no security guards, I break into the targeted shop and cart away
bags of rice or sugar.”
He also explained that most times
when he steals tyres, he sells them to Yakubu Kareem, residing in Ibadan.
He said that it was after he burgled
a shop in Ijebu-Ode, where he stole 25 pieces of brand new tyres and 75
batteries, which he sold to Aderemi Ayoade.
He said: “It was from the money that
Ayoade paid me that I gave my boy, Babajide, who worked with me N75, 000. I
bought a sienna bus and went to Ilesha, where we burgled a shop and carted away
generator and television sets. I built a house in Oluyole Ibadan from the
loot.”
The second suspect, Aderemi (42),
who introduced himself as a mechanic, said that he was married and has two
children.
He added: “My brother KC, who
resides at Ijebu-Ode that came to meet me at Ibadan. He said that he wanted to
give Nurrudwen Yekini a tricycle, which I took it to Nurudeen. He paid
N250, 000. KC gave me N10, 000 as commission, while Nurudeen also gave me
N10,000. I made N20, 000. Two months later, Nurudeen called again and said he
needed another tricycle. KC supplied him another; I got N20, 000 commission. We
ended up supplying five tricycles to Nurudeen. KC is my elder brother (Habbi),
while Ismali is my cousin.”
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