I alternate between robbery and spending fake money —Suspect

A 51-year-old suspect, Felix Ademola, who was arrested several times in the past and had been a regular face in prisons of all of the states in the South West part of Nigeria, has been nabbed again by the Oyo State Police Command for his involvement in armed robbery and possession of fake naira notes.

This was just eight months after the Ondo State-born suspect was released from Agodi Prisons in Ibadan after he benefitted from the Chief Judge’s pardon towards the end of 2015.

Speaking with Crime Reports, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Leye Oyebade, said that his arrest was based on information received by his command on June 30 that Ademola and his gang members snatched a Mercedes Benz from its owner at Oluyole area of Oyo State.

The police commissioner said he detailed the State Anti-Robbery Squad, Oyo/Ogbomoso annex, to fish out the suspects, adding that due to diligent investigation, Ademola and one of his gang members, Ayowole Philips (32), were arrested in July. Recovered from him were the Mercedes Benz car, two locally-made cut-to-size guns and six live cartridges

Crime Reports gathered that Ademola had been arrested in Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states.

In an interview, the suspect, a driver, confirmed that he was arrested for robbery and possession of fake naira notes.

“I have carried out robbery operations in Lagos, Oyo and other states. In Lagos State, I belonged to a gang of four members. They were Seyi, Ayo and Kunle. They are dead now. We once went to a house at Iyana Ipaja area about 2a.m., forcefully kicked the door open and dispossessed the residents of their money. We went for the operation with two locally-made pistols and we got N250,000.

“After about three months, we went again but did not get much money. We got N60,000. We did not injure any of our victims because they always cooperated with us. I had an accident and could not drive, so I organised another robbery gang and we went to Oyo State to rob. I was the only one caught and was arraigned in court. I was remanded in Agodi prison for three years but was pardoned on November 5, 2015 by the Chief Judge.

“After leaving the prison, I did not have anything to do so I started spending fake money. I used to buy the fake currency from a man at Abattoir in Lagos State and spend the money in Lagos and other states. I was paying N15,000 for N100,000 fake notes. I did the purchase twice.”

Oyebade however said that investigation into the activities of the robbery gang would continue.