Juliana Francis
A suspected car snatcher, Kudus Yunus, has blamed members of the Nigerian Police and operatives of the Lagos State Task Force for his sojourn into crime.
Yunus said that he had never imagined that he would one day take to crime. He blamed the police and task force for his forage into the criminal world.
His words: “I went into armed robbery after the death of my parents, who used me in fending for my wife and children. After my mom fell sick and died, followed by my dad, I became frustrated. I’m the youngest among my siblings. I took to commercial cycling to make ends meet, but after my motorcycle was seized twice by the police and officials of the Lagos State Task Force, I simply gave us! It was too much for me! And then, I ventured into armed robbery.”
According to police, Yunus and his gang members specialised in snatching Toyota Corolla cars at gunpoint within the Lagos Metropolis. His reign of terror was toppled by operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team, (IRT) in Lagos State.
The head of the IRT Unit, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, led the operation that toppled Yunus’s gang.
Yunus was later first used as bait to catch two men, Abudulahi Mohammed and Nasiru Mohammed, who allegedly used to fund his operations in order to be the first to get their hands on the stolen cars.
Police alleged that the receivers used to sell the cars to dealers. These dealers, Abdulbasit Mohammed and Tony Nwadia, after receiving the cars, would change the chassis numbers and customs duty papers at a cheap rate, making them appear unregistered.
The dealers, Abdulbasit and Nwadia, who operate a car dealership in Festac Town Lagos State, had also been arrested. Also, a Customs clearing licensed agent, Joseph Onyeniyi, and an alleged car smuggler, Kazeem Aluko, alleged to be part of the gang, were arrested at the Badagry areas of Lagos State.
Police said that two gunrunners, Chigozie Odinaka and Ahmed Adebayo, who supplied arms and ammunition to Yunus, were also arrested at Ojuelegba, Lagos State.
A police source said: “On December 14, 2020, we got a complaint from Mr Odusoya Oluwadare, who said that his Toyota Corolla car, with registration number, EPE 627 GE, was snatched at gunpoint along St. Finbarr College Road, Yaba, at about 11:30 pm. He said that his phone, cash of N150, 000 and wristwatch was also taken from him. When we went into investigations, we discovered that the robbery was carried out by Yunus, a notorious armed robber, who had been in and out of the prison. He usually carried out operations on his motorcycle. We trailed him to his hideout at Ojuelegba and arrested him, along with the men who had been selling guns to him. Yunus confessed to the crime, and the victim had also identified him as the person who snatched his car. Kudus led us to Alakija area of Lagos, where we arrested two of his receivers, who doubled as his financiers.”
Yunus said he was born in the Mosafejor area of Ajegunle, Lagos State. He explained: “I started by snatching people’s phones on the road and then graduated into snatching cars. I majored in snatching only Toyota Corolla cars. It was my friend, Emma Peter, now in prison, who told me that I could snatch people’s car, using my motorcycle as the operational tool. Once I spot a car I like, I’ll follow it and at a point, will point my gun at the driver and then dispossess him of it. The gun I was using, belonged to Emma Peter. He gave it to me. He was also the person that linked me to one Ibrahim, who is my motorcycle man.”
Yunus recalled that he and his gang snatched their first car, a Toyota Corolla in Festac Town. They had tailed the driver, and when they noticed he had driven into a bad spot, they cornered him. He said the victim submitted and cooperated after they showed him a gun.
Yunus further said: “We took his car and sold it to Isiaku, who came all the way from Sokoto State. He bought it for N300, 000. It was still Emma Peter that linked me to him. We snatched another Toyota Corolla car at Festac Town, using the same modus operandi. I sold the car to one Musa at the rate of N250,000.”
He recalled that in 2018, he was arrested by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command. He was arrested after he snatched a phone in the Palmgrove area. He was arraigned and remanded in prison custody, where he spent a year. He was released in 2020.
He stated: “Immediately I got out of prison, I went back to robbery and stole two more Corolla sports cars, along Stadium Road and Onipanu areas of state. I sold them to one Ajala, who I met in Ikoyi Prison. I also stole two additional Corolla sport cars at Palmgrove and Adekunle areas of Lagos State. I sold the cars to Nasiru and Abudulahi at the rate of N250, 000 and N320, 000. After I decided to quit the business, I sold the gun to one Isaac, with four live cartridges. I decided to quit the business because my wife started complaining and threatened to leave the marriage.”
Nasiru, 36, residing in Festac, described himself as a businessman. He sells electronics at Alaba International Market, but one of his friends, Abdulahi, introduced him to the business of buying stolen cars.
Nasiru said: “Yunus is the first person I bought stolen cars from. I bought them at the rate of N250, 000 and another for N320, 000. I sold them to Abdulbasit and Ibrahim, who I knew were into buying stolen cars. I sold the cars at the rate of N850, 000 and N600,000 respectively.”
Nasiru, a dismissed soldier, posing as a serving army lieutenant said: “I used to send money to Yunus whenever he tells me he was going for an operation. The money is usually for his fuel and feeding. Abudulahi Mohammed is my friend, and my partner. We usually share the profit from the business.”
On his part, Abdulbasit, 41, married with four children, explained that he started buying stolen cars last January. He added that it was Nasiru, who sold the cars to him. “But I have been helping him to falsify customs papers and chassis numbers in the past. He pays me N120 for the job. After buying these stolen cars, I gave them to Tony to sell for me. Tony has a car stand at Festac Town,” said Abdulbasit.
Nwadia, 41, denied knowing the cars were stolen ones. He said he was fooled because Abdulbasit brought the cars to his stand with their original customs duty papers.
He added: “I was arrested because Abdulbasit brought a stolen car to my stand. I didn’t know that the car was stolen because the car came with a customs duty paper, and he told me that the importer was a trader at Ladipo Market. I believed and allowed him to put his car in my stand.”
Oyeniyi, 33, the customs licensed clearing agent, said: “I’m into falsifying Customs papers and I used the photocopies of original papers to create the fake ones. I used to charge as much as N10, 000 for the fake papers, but the ones that got me into trouble were brought to me by Kazeem. He brought three jobs for me, and I didn’t know that the vehicles, which document I was forging, were stolen vehicles. I thought they were smuggled cars.”
Aluko, 36, said: “I’m into car smuggling, and I’ve known Abdulbasit for long. I have helped him smuggle several vehicles into the country in the past. He gave me the make of three vehicles, and asked me to help falsify their Customs papers and chassis numbers. He paid me N350, 000 for each of the jobs. But I didn’t know the cars were stolen ones.”
Another suspect, Ahmed Adebayo, 27, who joined Eyie confraternity in 2015, said he was initiated at Ojuelegba by a guy called Chicago.
Adebayo said: “I started selling arms and ammunition in 2019. I used to get the arms from Eyie, number one leader, residing in the Ikotun area of the state. His name is Matuga. I used to sell the arms and ammunition to our gang members. I sold four of the ammunition to Yunus and he used them for armed robbery. I also sold 30 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, which I got from Chicago, to one Isaac at the rate of N45,000. I was arrested because I wanted to sell guns to Yunus. I contacted someone to supply me the guns, and when the person brought them, the police came and arrested us.”
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