Police begin hunt for invisible suspect fleeing with cop’s rifle

Juliana Francis 

Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have launched a man-hunt for a suspected robber, simply identified as Sholly, who killed a policeman, took his rifle and started operating with it.

According to Sholly’s gang members, the operatives were very much likely hunting for an invisible man, a ghost. They claimed and strongly believed that 25-year-old Sholly uses charms, which make him difficult to arrest.

The operatives had, however, scoffed at the notion of charms making Sholly to be invisible and difficult to be arrested. Those involved in the investigation and hunt for the fleeing suspect said that it was only a matter of time before he was arrested.

The Police said that Sholly and his gang members were part of notorious gangs that had been terrorising Ojo, Ajangbadi and Iyana-Isashi areas of Lagos State.

Three members of the gang had been arrested and four pistols and two live cartridges allegedly recovered from them.

The three suspects have been identified as Solomon Boniface, aka Baba Fela, Odinaka Igwe and Oluwatosin Omoshuyi. The Police also alleged that Sholly and the three men were members of the Eiye Confraternity.

A police source explained: “Sholly and his gang have carried out several killings within Ojo, Ajangbadi and Iyana-Isashi areas. The gang also killed a policeman at a check point and collected his AK47 rifle. Sholly is dangerous and has been operating with the murdered police officer’s rifle. His gang members claimed that Sholly’s powerful charms have made him invisible and difficult to be arrested. They said that he uses the charms whenever he was going for operations.” 

During Police investigations, some resident stated that Sholly’s notoriety was well known within the areas, as he had robbed several business outlets, including eateries, drinking joints and Point of Sale (POS) withdrawal spots, killing most of their victims in the process.

Indeed, it was gathered that frantic residents wrote series of petitions to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, against Sholly and his gang, detailing their operations and how fear has enveloped the communities.

Adamu was said to have directed his operatives at the IRT Unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, to bring down Sholly and his gang. 

A team of operatives were deployed from the IRT base in Abuja to Lagos State. They embarked on a covert operation, leading to the arrest of Boniface. Boniface was described as one of Sholly’s trusted lieutenants. Boniface, who realised that all the cards on the table were against him, cooperated with IRT men, leading to the arrest of the other two suspects.

The police source further said: “This Babafela is of the notorious armed robbers that had been terrorising those areas for a long time. He and his gang leader, Sholly killed a policeman at Afromedia, close to Okokomaiko and took his gun. Sholly has been using the rifle, making everyone to be scared of him. Sholly is a member of Eiye Confraternity. There was a man called Odia, who used to head the gang. Sholly took over from him. It was after Sholly started leading the gang that he killed the police officer. He soon became superior to other criminals within Ojo axis. They also became loyal to him. He has so far engaged in robbery activities in every part of the area and Boniface is his Second-in-Command.”

Sholly and gang were further alleged to have killed a man at Alaba-Rago area for arguing with them. Omoshuyi, one of those in police custody, has been discovered to be the gang’s armourer.

The Police noted: “This Sholly also killed a member of the Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) when the deceased confronted him during a robbery operation. While the operatives were on Sholly’s trail, they received information about Omoshuyi. The Operatives stormed Omoshuyi’s house and recovered a revolver pistol from him.  They also arrested Igwe, who is the gang’s cyclist. A fabricated pistol, a locally made pistol and two life cartridges were recovered from Igwe.”

Boniface, 29, explained that he became an armed robber and a cultist after he met Sholly in an Indian help smoking joint. They became friends.

The suspect, who introduced himself as an electrician and a father of one, added: “I was initiated at NEPA Road area of the market in Ojo. During my initiation, hot drinks were poured on my head, after which I was beaten and then told that I had been initiated into the Eiye Confraternity. I met Sholly, who used to spend plenty money at a smoking joint in Alaba-Rago and since then, we became friends.  He used to buy Indian hemp and drinks for us. There was a day he invited me to meet him at Alaba-Rago; when I got there at about 8:pm, I saw two  other persons, Tanju and Afeez Olopa. We then went to Old Ojo Road on a motorcycle to rob a man returning home from the market. The man had a bag filled with money. It was Sholly that brought the connection for that operation. I got N350, 000 as my share. I started going out with him for operations. I was with Sholly on the day the policeman was killed at Afromedia. After killing the policeman, Sholly handed over his gun to me and started using the policeman’s own. We robbed several bars and eateries together.  When the police came looking for us, Sholly went into hiding, but I was arrested.”

Igwe, 24, said that he joined Sholly’s gang after he joined the Eiye Confraternity.

His words: “I’m a motorcycle rider. I joined Eiye in 2018. It was one of my friends, a Togolese that made me to join the confraternity.  After I joined, I became friends with Odia, who resides close to my shop. It was Odia that connected me to Alboy and Sholly. We started going for robbery operations together.  We robbed several hotels along Alaba routes. After one serious robbery operation, Odia used his own share of the robbery proceeds to celebrate his father’s burial. A fight broke out during the burial ceremony and in the process, one of his friends alerted the police about his activities. Police arrested him. But before the police got to his house, his wife had moved all the guns in the house and gave them to me to keep. I started working with Sholly. The Police started looking for Sholly and trailed him to my house. They didn’t find him, but they saw and arrested me. They also recovered the guns from me.”