with Femi Ogbonnikan

Babatunde Ismaila walked sluggishly into a large office, led by a police detective, shaking his head intermittently and also, sobbing repeatedly. Then, he said. “I was ten years old when my father and mother died. It was my father who first gave up the ghost then followed my mother. I and my siblings (both young and elder) lived together with our parents in a family house in Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Ogun State, before their death. Shortly after their death, there was no succour elsewhere from any member of our paternal family. We were left to fend for ourselves.

“It was when the situation was getting worse that I initially dropped out of school in Primary six and subsequently, deserted home and decided to seek refuge elsewhere.
“I went to learn a trade in automobile engineering as an apprentice. My master was responsible for my upkeep. It was in the course of my apprenticeship that I came across some boys who introduced me to a sharp practice. I was stealing my master’s money and he sent me packing. Soon afterwards, I went to stay at a motor park in Abeokuta where my friends and I would engage in menial jobs to eke out a living. We did not limit ourselves to menials, as were also engaged in stealing in Abeokuta. From there, we relocated to Ifo,” he narrated.

Those were the confessions of Ismaila, a robbery suspect, who is currently a guest of the detectives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of Ogun State Police Command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.
The 24-year-old suspect is a member of a four-man armed robbery gang which specialises in snatching vehicles at gun point. Also, in detention along with him is Afeez Omidokun. Thus, the four-man gang is made up of Femi (kingpin), Ismaila, Omidokun and Shola.
Luck ran out on them, as the duo - Ismaila and Omidokun - were apprehended shortly after they had snatched a vehicle, a Ford Escape jeep, marked FX 511 EKY (Lagos) from its owner at  gunpoint in Abule Iroko, Ado-Odo/Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State on August 8, 2014.

Saturday THISDAY reliably gathered that the owner of the jeep, with his wife and two children were returning home from an engagement at about 10pm on that fateful day when the three members of the gang riding on a motorcycle waylaid them at the gate of their home.
It was learnt that the man had alighted from the jeep and wanted to open the entrance gate, before Femi jumped down and accosted him at gunpoint.
They pointed a gun at the man’s head and collected all the money he had on him and subsequently asked his wife and two children get down and shut up their mouths or risk snuffing lives out of them.  Ismaila Said: “Femi asked me to take over the steering, while Shola sat at the driver’s side. Femi rode on his motorcycle and we went to pick Afeez at Ifo. From there, Femi led us towards Sagamu, en-route Papa Lanto in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun state.
“We were within Papa Lanto axis, before the engine of the vehicle suddenly switched off. We were fixing the engine and probably, because we are young men and considering the odd hour (about 2am) we were travelling, aroused curiosity of the officers and men of the Federal Highway Patrol (FHP) who accosted us where we were battling with the jeep’s engine.
First to escape, and with luck, were Femi and Shola, as they took to their heels when the policemen accosted us. They gave them a hot chase, but they were unlucky, as Femi and Shola escaped through the bush.

“Afeez and I were arrested and we were brought here (SARS) when we couldn’t offer any plausible explanation about how we came about the jeep. I confessed and told the police that we snatched the jeep from its owner at gunpoint.”
According to the Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Ogun State -born suspect, out of the N74, 000 stolen from the victim, “Femi gave N10, 000 to each of us while he took the rest (N44, 000) being the ring leader of the gang.” In his own confessions, Omidokun, admitted to be a member of the gang, but that, he did not participate in the operation. According to the 20-year-old suspect, “I did not follow them to snatch the jeep, but Femi put a call through to me that they had successfully snatched the vehicle. He asked me where I was and they came to pick me in Ifo and we headed straight towards Sagamu, until the engine of the vehicle suddenly developed fault at Papa Lanto.”
The Aiyetoro, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State-born suspect admitted receiving N10, 000 as his own share from Femi. According to police sources at SARS, Eleweran, Abeokuta, a tracking device system installed in the jeep paid off, resulting in de-mobilising their vehicle.
Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and Ogun State Police Command spokesman confirmed the arrest of the duo- Ismaila and Omidokun.
He assured that investigation had intensified into the matter with a view to tracking down the two fleeing members of the gang - Femi and Shola.


Source: ThisDay