Akinola Olarewaju, a 34-year-old man, who was nabbed by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos recently, has confessed that his father retired as the leader of a notorious armed robbery gang years back.
Akinola, who was a member of a dangerous Six-man robbery gang before his arrest, also gave the name of the leader of the gang as Femi Enuyemi, aka JJ, who is said to be from Ondo State.
According to Akinlola’s statement, he joined the gang because he trained as a motor mechanic but could not raise money to buy working tools.
His attempt to get his father to assist him did not yield any positive result. And when he turned to his father’s friend, he too was not forthcoming. “Go and do what your father knows how to do best, and you would raise the money to buy working tools,” was the advise he got from his father's friend.
In his words: "With time, I started doing loading and off-loading at Breweries in Costain, Surulere, just to avoid being idle. I stayed with my sister, Nikere, at Surulere. I became uncomfortable with my sister as she always warned me to stay away from bad boys, so that I would not end up doing what my father did until he retired.
“My freedom came when Femi, aka JJ, visited me and advised me to come and live with him in Ajah, so that I would learn how to become a millionaire without doing much.
“When I got to his room and parlour apartment at Lakure in Ajah, he told me that I should feel free because he was living with only one wife,” he said.
That was to mark the beginning of his initiation into armed robbery. At night, his friend and host, JJ, invited the rest members of the gang and asked him to join in the meeting that was to hold. The initiation was simple.
JJ told him that he was in the midst of armed robbers and that he would want him to join, even though it was voluntary. Upon his decision to join the group, each member of the group hit Akinola hard on the head and was made to kiss a locally made gun. That was all.
His first outing was the following day at Epe. But before the operation, he was told to be a man and informed the other members of the group that indeed they had a lion in their midst. JJ declared to the rest members of the gang that "armed robbery runs in the family of Akinola".
The Epe operation was successful. The five -man gang snatched a Toyota Camry car which JJ sold for N350,000 to a ready buyer. He was given N70,000. JJ ensured that the money realised was shared equally.
His second outing was in his state of Ondo. The gang snatched a vehicle which was sold for N300,000 and each member got N60,000.
He confessed to be very good at torturing their victims.
“I am good at torturing victims and that is why we get extra cash during operation because our victims reveal where they hide their money when I start torturing them. I can’t torture them to death, but they will never forget the experience”, he said.
The third operation was at Ajah. The gang snatched a Honda Bulldog car and sold it for N450,000 and N50,000 was given to every member of the gang. He said they were always five in number as every member had a vital role to play for the gang to be successful in its operation.
His fourth and last operation was on the way to Epe. “We did the operation in October last year, but we were arrested on November 25 along Epe Road", he said.
It happened that JJ was to do the burial of his paternal grandmother which was to be November 26. It was while on the road to the place that himself and two others were arrested.
“We boarded a commercial car. We were three, myself, Obed and Ogbonna. There were other three passengers and the driver making it seven passengers. Then, men of the Federal Highway Patrol stopped and searched us. They searched everywhere. The way they were searching us showed that SARS operatives would have signalled them that the men they were looking for were inside that car.
“They searched thoroughly and turned every bag upside down. When they searched the student bag we put under the seat, they saw three short guns and bundled all of us, including the driver, to Elemoro Police Station. From there, they took us to Ajiwe Police Station in Ajah .
“On the second day when they wanted to transfer us to SARS Headquarters, the team leader, Supol Adamson, asked me whether I knew the driver and the other three passengers, and I said I did not know them. I told him that I boarded the car with Emma and Obed as passengers and others were released and we were taken to SARS.
"I would like to tell you something important please. Femi’s mother and my father are from the same father and mother, so when he called me to come and stay with him, I did not argue. I stayed with him and did whatever he wanted me to do. He also inherited robbery", he stated.
Other members of the gang are Felix Enuyemi (Femi’s brother), aka Askari; Keshi also from Ondo State; Emmanuel Ogbonna, aged 25, from Eziwachi in Afikpo, Ebonyi State; and Obed Odeme from Eziogbaku in Owerri, Imo State.
