The Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja, Lagos have arrested two members of a 5-man robbery gang, a man and a woman who specialize in robbing passengers plying the Badagry-Mile 2 route.
According to police, the suspects were identified as Ahmed Isiaka and Victoria Amodu.
![The apprehended suspects [photo credit: Vanguard]](https://www.thetrentonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/suspects-the-trent.gif)
“Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to sleep under the bridge as I met a lady in a commercial bus I boarded who had compassion on me when she saw me crying in the bus. She took me to the hotel where she was working as a prostitute and introduced me into the league of prostitutes. Everything was going on well until Okanlawon patronised me in the hotel. The first time we spent the night together. After that night I didn’t see him again untill three weeks later.
“Weeks later, someone stole my N100,000 from my room in the hotel while I was asleep. While I was still lamenting the loss, the collector of our Esusu contribution disappeared with my N150,000. As I was still grieving over the loss, Okanlawon came to the hotel to see me. He told me to accompany him to a night club. Initially I declined but after much persuasion I followed him. Instead of going to the club, he took me to his place where we spent the night together.
“In the morning, he asked me to enter the front seat of his vehicle and he started picking passengers and I asked him why he was carrying passengers but he didn’t respond. It was when he and his gang members attacked the passengers that I knew what he was into. I told him I didn’t want to take part in their operations. But he threatened to deal with me, saying nobody would know my whereabouts if I didn’t co-operate with the gang. That was why I had a rethink and continued to participate in robbery operations. The first time I participated, I wasn’t given anything while at two other times I was given N15,000 and N10,000 respectively.”
It was gathered that the activities of the gang came under investigation after one of their victims reported them to the Ojo police division. Incidentally the female police officer investigating the case had was also robbed by the gang after she boarded their vehicle in plain clothes, where she was able to get details of the vehicle as the attack was going on.
The cab was later trailed to Iyana Iba the next day as unsuspecting passengers were boarding it, where Ahmed was arrested while the others escaped.
The case was later transferred to SARS, after which Victoria was apprehended.
When he was quizzed, Ahmed gave his own version of the story: “I was introduced to the gang by Okanlawon last November. Other members of the gang are Nuru, Victoria and Isiaka.
“I am the driver of the operational vehicle, a Honda Accord, while Nuru used to drive the back-up vehicle, a Mazda.
“We used to operate along Iyana-Iba-Badagry expressway. Usually, Victoria sits at the front while another member sits at the back. I take passengers from Iyana-Iba bus stop going to Badagry. Before we get to a lonely area between Agbara and Oko-Afo the other members of the gang in the back-up vehicle would signal me to stop.
“Immediately, I receive the signal, I would pretend like the vehicle was faulty then park and pretended to be fixing the vehicle. While this was going on, the other members would strike.
“We don’t use guns or juju to rob passengers, instead we use wheel spanner. We don’t even make them unconscious during operation. Usually we operate in the night. Sometimes we operate in broad daylight.
“Depending on our loot, I could get as much as N10,000 from one operation. And I have participated in about four robbery operations.
“Okanlawon used to take all the phones we get from operations. Before I joined the gang I was a commercial bus driver.
“I am married with a child. I used to live at Ibafo before my rent expired and I moved to 1, Denton Street in Oyingbo.”
