Operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State police command are trying to find out the circumstances surrounding the mob attack on a suspected armed robber, who was allegedly left behind by members of his gang after a robbery.
The suspect, Tunde Adewale, 26, has continued to insist that he is not a member of the gang and claimed to have been forced into taking the armed robbers to the scene of the robbery on his commercial motorcycle.
A police source at SARS said that the suspect was suspected to be a member of a 3–man robbery gang, which was confronted by residents of Ladipo area of Ikotun in Lagos State.
“We are still carrying out investigations. We have not really got much from him because he was almost dead when we rescued him from the mob that attempted to kill and set him ablaze,” the police source said.
It was gathered that some residents of the area told the police that the arrested suspect was a member of the gang that invaded the area and that luck ran out on him when some residents summoned courage and confronted them. The confrontation led to 2 of them escaping with the gang’s operational motorcycle.
However, Tunde said:
“I was carrying two passengers at Ijegun community. Along the way, they stopped me and brought out knives and cutlasses claiming to be cult boys. I became afraid and locked my motorcycle and started asking them why they stopped me here since they had not reached where they were going.
“As I was talking, one of them snatched my motorcycle key and started the motorcycle. As he wanted to drive away with the second person, I started dragging my motorcycle with them but they succeeded in overpowering me and zoomed off with it.”
“When I was crying for help the people from the area gathered round me calling me thief and before I knew it they started beating me. Look at my eyes, my mouth and see how I was beaten almost to death. They thought that I was dead and pushed by the road side. Luckily policemen on patrol saw my helpless situation and carried me to their station and later transferred me to SARS scorpion house when they noticed that I was still breathing.”
“I am from Ire village in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State. I am an okada rider. I was mistaken for a thief when the two boys I was carrying snatched my motorcycle and claimed to be cult boys. I am married with a child.”
Kenneth Nwosu of NPF, confirmed the rescue of the suspect and added that the police had begun investigations into the claims by the residents that the arrested suspect was a member of the gang.
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