Police burst 5-man armed robbery gang that stole tithe, shot Ado chief

The police in Ekiti State have arrested and paraded five suspected armed robbers which allegedly robbed the Onibedo of Ado Ekiti, a pastor and others in an operation at Oke Ureje area of Ado Ekiti, on August 28th, 2017.

The Onibedo, Chief Oladokun Oluyemi Oke, who identified one of the suspects while they were being paraded by the police, on Tuesday, claimed that they had smashed his door with huge stones he said they had used as part of their weapons, and gained entry.

He said they shot at him in the arm and back with their Dane gun, while they robbed him of cash and mobile phones.

The pastor of Dominion Parish of The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Odo Ado, Olalekan Timothy, who was also at the police headquarters, said the robbers had smashed his door with the same stones, saying “it was about 1:05am when we heard the noise of the broken door and by the time we came out to check what was wrong, the robbers were a lady in our sitting room.”

Pastor Timothy said he lived next door to Chief Oke, pointing out that “they went to his house after robbing us. They stole N89,000 cash, N15,000 worth of recharge cards of various mobile networks from me and my wife.

“They asked if that was all we had and I told them that all we had left was tithe that belongs to God, and they said ‘go and bring it’. They went away with everything and our mobile phones.”

The Public Relations Officer of the state’s police comman, Mr. Alberto Adeyemi, who paraded the suspects, namely Owoeye Ojo (33); Agbetuyi Taiwo (22); Adeniyi Busayo (35); Laisi Friday (22) and Fadimula Tunde (46), said they were arrested “following concerted efforts by by the operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Ekiti State Command.”

Adeyemi said after they had robbed the homes, the suspects also robbed a petrol  filling station at Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, saying “three Dane guns, three cutlasses, one horn tied with red cloth; Ifa divination tools, seven pieces of stone” were recovered from them.

He said Fadunmila and Adeniyi, also accused of robbing the victims with police uniform, adding that they were were night guards hired for neighbourhood vigilance watch at Enu Odi area of Odo Ado community in Ado Ekiti.

The PPRO said Chief Oke, who had come out during the robbery operation to challenge them, was shot in the hands and stomach and was rushed to the hospital by neighbours for treatment.

“Our men of the SARS were able to arrest them through intelligence gathering and information from members of the public. We have concluded our investigations by calling the victims who were able to identify some of them and we shall take them to the court on Wednesday,” he stated.

The Onibedo of Ado Ekiti, Chief Oke said “I was able to identify them because they had earlier wined and dined in my house during Udi Iroko festival in Ado Ekiti, which was held on August 26. So, I knew them and I can stand by what I said.”