The leader of an armed robbery gang, Afeez Akinpelu, has opened up on his armed gang’s forays in the city of Ibadan, Oyo State; how he and members raided victims’ houses and robbed them, and the killing of a victim who beamed torchlight at him and refused to leave when told to do so.
Afeez made the confession in an interview when paraded with his gang members and other suspects at the Oyo State Police Command recently.
His gang members included Segun Joseph (27) and Oyebamiji Moses (22), as well as Dauda Adekunle (30) who gave the gun used in killing the victim to Afeez.
The state Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, said during the parade of the suspects that the armed robbery syndicate, which had been terrorising members of the public in different parts of Ibadan invaded Idi-Osan/Oba Ido community at Ologuneru area of the city on May 14, 2022, at about 2:30am.
CP Williams stated further that they broke into houses with firearms, cutlasses and some instruments used for burglary and attacked some residents and dispossessed them of huge sums of money, laptops, phones and other valuables.
“As if that was not enough, the armed robbers opened fire on some of their victims after they had dispossessed them of their hard-earned valuables, and in the process, a member of the community, who was later identified as Felix Nwaebili, was brutally killed in cold blood,” Adebowale disclosed.
He said that operatives of the Monitoring Unit, Eleyele, led by CSP Olusola Aremu, swung into action and began a discreet investigation when the incident was reported to them.
Their efforts yielded fruits when two kingpins of the armed robbery gang, Moses and Afeez, were arrested in their respective hideouts within Ibadan metropolis on July 4 at about 2am.
The police boss said that during interrogation, the suspects made confessional statements on the crime and series of similar activities they carried out in different parts of the city.
He added that the suspects’ confession and further investigation led to the arrest of another gang member, Joseph, and the syndicate’s armourer, Adekunle.
Recovered from the suspects were a locally-made gun and a dagger used during the robbery operation.
CP Williams said that his command was intensifying its efforts to arrest other gang members currently at large.
Akinpelu, aged 36, who confessed to his misdeeds, said: “I’m from Apomu in Osun State but I live at Alakia in Ibadan, Oyo State. I’m a barber and I have a child.”
Why he was arrested
According to Akinpelu, “my gang members and I went to rob at Ologuneru in Ibadan. Before then, I was into burglary.
“I started that after my father died in 2002 and my life path became distorted. I stopped schooling and learnt barbing between 2003 and 2005. I rented a room in 2006 and started breaking into people’s homes to steal their property.
“In 2007, I was arrested by police at Agugu Division and arraigned in court. I was remanded in the prison awaiting trial but was released in 2008 after spending 15 months there. The magistrate struck out the case when the complainant was no longer coming to court.”
My graduation into robbery
He went on: “When I regained freedom from the prison, I went to my hometown and started commercial motorcycle operation and was also working as a barber in someone’s shop. From there I went to Ilorin to work as a barbing stylist but later returned to Ibadan in 2020. I started burglary and stealing again. After a while, I began to rob, but my gang members and I were not using gun. The gang members were Moses, Segun and Abbey. We went on operation three times without a gun.
“Then I met one Dauda (Adekunle) whom I knew as a member of a masquerade group and a member of Oodua’s Peoples Congress (OPC). He told me he had a gun and I asked him to lend me, telling him that I wanted to use it to threaten those contending land issue with me. He showed me how to use the gun and I took it for robbery. Before our arrest, we invaded five houses at Ologuneru community.
How I formed robbery gang
“I knew Moses through a friend popularly called Bottle. Bottle and I met at Agodi Prison. I also knew Segun when I was still learning barbing as a vocation. We were into burglary together. We were both arrested back in 2006 and were both remanded. After regaining freedom, we lost contact when I went to Apomu. But on my return to Ibadan, Segun’s brother saw a former girlfriend of mine and asked about me. She gave him my number and he, in turn, gave it to Segun. That was how Segun called me and we started communicating. I suggested we go back to our former criminal activity and he agreed with me.
“When we started using a gun, we would either forcefully open entrance doors or use a cutter to remove the burglary-proof grills attached to windows. We would shoot to scare the residents, collect whatever we could get from them and disappear.
“The last operation
We left for Ologuneru at about 9pm and hid in an uncompleted building till after 12 midnight. That was when we started attacking each of the targeted five houses in turn. During the operation in one of the houses, I was told that the residents were lying in wait for us outside. I went outside and all of them ran away in fear except one man. We ordered him to leave but he did not leave. That was why I shot and killed him. “In another building, I also shot another man but he didn’t die.
“We sold all the phones and laptops we got from the robbery operation for N420,000. I got N150,000 as my share. Segun was given N130,000 while Moses and Abbey got N70,000 each.”
In his confession, Joseph said: “Before my arrest, I was a caterpillar operator. I went with other gang members to rob at Ologuneru. We entered five houses to operate. Afeez, who was the one operating the gun shot at a man and killed him when he saw him beaming his torch light at us. The man also refused to leave when asked to do so by Afeez.
“The second victim Afeez also shot did not open his door quickly. I was arrested two months after the operation.”
Joseph, who was an ex-prison inmate with Afeez, spoke on what landed him there. According to him, “I was arrested with Afeez when a stolen phone was found with us. I was also remanded in prison after arraignment in court for breaking and entering. I was granted bail and left the prison before Afeez.
“I know that what I have done is bad. It was not as if I was hungry.”
The third suspect, Moses, also a barber, said: “I stopped schooling at JSS 3. I followed other gang members to rob. I had gone with them three times before I was arrested. I was introduced to the gang by my friend, Bottle.
“After the first operation I took part in, I was given N70,000. I got N50,000 the second time and had yet to get the third payment from Abbey who was to pass it to me when I was arrested. I joined the robbery gang because of greed.”
The suspected supplier of the gun, Adekunle, who said he was into land sale and also a member of OPC, stated: “I knew Afeez during masquerade festival in 2011. We lost contact but I saw him again 2020. He told me that he had a piece of land to handle but it had not been signed by a family member. I told my boss, expecting to get the job done so that I would get a good amount as commission and a piece of land. Afeez told me there were dangerous people and animals on their farmland. He asked for an OPC member to be an escort and a gun to scare the people. I didn’t know he was lying to me and had another motive.
“My boss in the masquerade group, Irekosodo, is dead. On the day we opened his office after burying him, I saw a gun and kept it there. I responded to Afeez, telling him about the gun I found in my late boss’s office. Since nobody was using it, I decided to give it out but told him to return it after he was done with it. I was not the one who showed him how to operate the gun as he claimed.”
and then