Police arrest four-man robbery gang “terrorising” Ikorodu residents
A four-man gang has been arrested by the Anti-Robbery Squad of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba for allegedly terrorising residents of the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The suspects – Akin Ayotunde 27, Isaac Ogbonna 23, Sola Dede 24 and Sodiq Lawal –who were fond of lurking around houses at night and switching off their victims’ generators before attacking them, were caught last Thursday after invading the home of one Bello Hakeem in the Igbe area.
The suspects after spending six hours in the victim’s house carted away his car, money, phones generator and other valuable items.
Explaining his ordeal, Hakeem said he noticed that his generator suddenly went off. He then asked two of his kids to go outside and fix it. A while after they left, four armed men forced them back in.
He also said that the family was held hostage for six hours before they finally left the house around 6am.
Hakeem told the police that the suspects withdrew N100,000 from his account before he could deactivate his stolen ATM cards.
He said two days after the incident, a friend called him that he saw a car just like his, which had been put up for sale. Hakeem alerted the SCIID,Yaba, and the suspects were rounded up.
After they were caught, the gang leader Ayotunde confessed that he used to sell garri in a market before the former Governor Babatunde Fashola demolished shops in the market, after attempting several other jobs and failing, he decided to go into robbery. He also sold the idea to his friends, and they agreed to use only knives for their operations to avoid bloodshed.
“I was arrested when the man whom I had given the man’s car to called me that he had found a buyer. He said the buyer had paid N700,000 for the vehicle and that I should come for my share.
“We agreed to meet at a restaurant in Ojota. But on getting there, I discovered that it was a set up and I was arrested,” he further explained.
The police also arrested Akeem Lawal, the receiver of some of the stolen items, who claimed that the suspects lied to him that the goods were imported.
The Police Public Relations officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest, adding that investigations were ongoing.
