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| The suspects |
A 24-year-old technician turned robber, Nurudeen Akorede, has blamed his ordeal on the spiritual influence by his stepmother.
The father of two, who resides in the Alakuko area of Lagos, said he had lived decently until 2017 when his stepmotherโs spell started manifesting negatively in his life.
He said he started by smoking, through which he met some men who introduced him to a robbery gang, terrorising the Aboru area of the state and its environs.
Akorede and other members of his gang had raided houses in the community in January 2019, dispossessing residents of their valuables, including laptops, phones and cash.
Reportedly wielding guns and cutlasses, the bandits operated freely from one house to another, inflicting injuries on victims who refused to โcooperate.โ
In the wake of the robbery attack, residents lived in fear as the robbers reportedly vowed to return to the community.
Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team were detailed to track down the gang after the community alerted the police to the incident.
The effort of the detectives paid off recently when the suspects were rounded up at different parts of the state.
Apart from Akorede, other members of the gang arrested by the police are Kunle Akerele, Ayuba Aransi, Adewale Toyin, Oluwatosin Adeyemi and Tunde Yusuf.
Two locally-made guns, 60 mobile phones and 30 laptops were reportedly recovered from the suspects.
Speaking to reporters during the week, Akorede said his life made an about-face after his parents separated and his father remarried.
The native of Abeokuta in Ogun State claimed that his fatherโs new wife afflicted him with spiritual problems that made him to become an armed robber.
He said, โI fix aluminium doors and windows before I joined the robbery gang. My trouble started when my parents separated. I was in secondary school when they separated and my mother took me with her while my younger brother was with my father. After I finished from secondary school education, I went to learn how to fix aluminium doors and windows. My fatherโs new wife started tormenting me spiritually. She made my younger brother to go insane and she also poisoned my father.
โShe then went after me. I started smoking in 2017. I used to attend church services and I was warned by a prophet to stop the habit. The prophet said my enemy was planning to ruin my life. One day, I went to visit my girlfriend at Egbatedo, Alakuko where I met people smoking Indian hemp. I met Kunle (Akerele), who introduced me to the robbery gang. I stopped going to church and shop. Aside from fixing aluminium doors and windows, I am a boxer. People knew I was skillful but my fatherโs wife was not happy about it. That was why she charmed me and turned my life into a mess.โ
Akorede said he participated in four operations with the gang, including the raid on houses in Aboru โ the last he was involved in before his arrest.
He said his role was to stay outside and watch out for policemen, noting that he got N20,000 share from their last operation.
He stated, โMy gang members would steal huge amounts of money from our victims and give me peanuts. They said I should buy my own gun if I wanted to get bigger shares from our loot. I regret getting myself into this mess, but my predicament started because my father married another wife.โ
Akerele, 29, who hails from Ekiti State, said he went into crime because of joblessness. He said Akorede initiated the robbery, adding that he (Akerele) bought a gun for N20,000.
He said, โAkorede linked me up with one Peter who took us to the areas where we robbed people. I approached one Yusuf, who lives in my area, and gave him N20,000 to buy me a gun. One of our members called Tunde also has a gun. He has not been arrested.
โI stole jewellery at gunpoint in Aboru and sold it for N400,000. It was the receiver of some of the laptops and phones that I stole who brought policemen to my house to arrest me.โ
Yusuf, 33, said he joined the gang after he was sacked at a clubhouse in Ikeja, where he worked as a barman.
The indigene of Ilorin, Kwara State, admitted that he helped Akerele buy the gun he used for operations.
He said, โI bought two locally-made guns from a security guard for N20,000. I gave them to Kunle (Akerele) and Tunde and they started giving me money after each operation. I also helped them to sell the phones and laptops they collected from their victims.โ
Aransi, a cobbler with two children, stated that he got N35,000 share from the proceeds of the two operations he participated in.
He said, โI am from Oyo State, but I reside in Aboru. I joined the gang in January 2019 through a friend called Rasheed. I went with the gang to rob six houses in Aboru. During the operation, Peter (a member at large) chopped off the fingers of one of the victims.โ
One of the receivers of the items stolen by the gang, Adewale Toyin, was also arrested by the police.
The 42-year-old man from Esan, Edo State, stated that he had received about 60 phones from the suspects so far.
He said, โI repair laptops and phones at Computer Village, Ikeja. I didnโt know that the phones were stolen. I could buy a laptop from them at the rate of N25,000 or N30,000 and resell it for N50,000 or N60,000.โ
