SOURCE : PUNCH NEWSPAPER
For a four-man robbery gang
terrorising some residents of
Ibadan, the Oyo State capital,
it was everyday for the thief but
one day for the owner.
Sometime last month, the
robbers had a hitch-free
operation and were looking
forward to another harvest
when they were caught napping
by men of the Bodija Housing
Divisional Police Station.
At about 4 pm on October 29, a
police team patrolling the Custom
Bus Stop area, on a tip-off,
accosted the occupants of an
Opel Cadet car with number plate
OYO AJ 84 YNF.
During interrogation, it was
discovered that the men were
members of a notorious robbery
gang that usually dispossessed
members of the public of their
money and other valuables.
Our correspondent gathered that
the men usually pretended as if
they were passengers heading
for a particular destination. One
of them would drive the car. The
driver would stop to carry
innocent passengers going their
way. The men would eventually
make away with their loot and
force the victims out of the
vehicle.
The suspects, all based in Ibadan,
were identified as Sikiru Jimoh,
35; Tunde Ojo, 50; Lateef Bello,
27; and Kolade Ogunwonyi, 38.
Items found on them were
seven handsets, some purses
and bags belonging to different
persons and an undisclosed sum
of money.
They all confessed to the crime.
Jimoh, who told the police that
they got into the crime three
months ago, said they all met at
a mechanic workshop.
He said, “We were just discussing
the hard times in the country
when the idea of stealing
cropped up. Sometimes we get
so much money but we usually
had bad times too. We don ’t do it
every day.”
They told the police that during
their first operation, they
dispossessed a woman that
boarded their taxi of N16,000,
her mobile phone and other
valuables.
The Commissioner of Police, Oyo
State Command, Mr. Adisa
Bolanta, said that the men would
be prosecuted soon. He warned
criminals in the state to desist
from the act, saying there was
no hiding place for hoodlums.
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