I Started Robbery In Sec School —Suspect

Two men suspected to be members of a gang of robbers have confessed to anti-robbery  detectives that he and his accomplice started robbing people while they were still in  secondary school at Olodi Secondary School, Tolu, Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria between 2003  and 2004.

Police investigations revealed that the two suspects and four others, now at large, armed  with an AK47 rifle and three locally made pistols, raided the residence of a prominent  industrialist (name withheld) at Marine Road, Apapa and violently robbed all the  occupants of their belongings. Items stolen include seven laptop computers and jewellery  worth thousands of naira, among others.

Nemesis, however, caught up with the two suspects following a tip off from members of the  public in Ajegunle.

Officers from Apapa Police Division were said to have swooped on their hideout in Orege  area of Ajegunle at about 3 a.m. The suspects were arrested, while four others escaped  with gunshot injuries.

Items recovered from them include, two jack knives, two locally made pistols and three  axes.

The two suspects gave their names as Fatai Aremu and Ismaila, while those at large  include Awilo, the ring leader, Bashiru alias Bras, Obokun, Small Agaga, Odudu and Randi.

In his confessional statement to the police, Fatai Aremu said: “I and Randi attended  Olodi Secondary School, Ajegunle, Apapa and we started robbing by snatching handsets and  hand bags at boundary bus stop before we went into full robbery operations. We bought one  pistol for N2,000 and left school.

“We met other members of our gang at Orege, a meeting point in Ajegunle. Awilo our leader  is in possession of all our guns including the AK47 and four locally made pistols. He  always make them available each time we are going for operation.

“We have robbed in Surulere, Tin can Island the Expressway and the last one at Marine  Road which fetched me N150,000, my share of the proceeds. I promise to change,” he  pleaded.

The suspects are currently being detained at Apapa, Police Division to face prosecution.

—Paul Iyoghojie