Prince, Three Others Nabbed For Robbing Commercial Motorcyclists

Four men are in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly waylaying and robbing commercial motorcycle riders in Lagos state.

The four men identified as Emmanuel Olutade, Lukman Tiamiyu and Wasiu Sikiru and Oladimeji Orisan were arrested after the SARS operatives laid ambush for them in their hideout at Ishawo area of Lagos state following complaints to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Mr. Kayode Aderanti that a gang was snatching motorcycles and money from riders at gunpoint in the area . Following the arrest of the suspects, it was discovered to the shock of the residents that the gang leader is the son of a traditional ruler of Ishawo, Olademeji, a 24 year old man.

The police said the gang had stolen more than 20 motorcycles in the area as the suspects operate during the early hour of the day and late at night while they recovered two pistols and 25 live cartridges from the gang. The suspects are said to pretend to be passengers.

Then they lure the commercial motorcyclists to a secluded area where other gang members would swoop on the commercial motorcyclists to dispossess them of cash and other valuables.

Olademeji, however, blamed bad friends for his involvement in crime He said, “As the second son, my father took good care of me but I dropped out of school in Junior Secondary School 2. “I later attended a technical college but joined a cult group while in school. I was going out with them to rob and that was where the idea of snatching and reselling motorcycles came.

“I formed my own gang in 2014 when I came back from college. I bought the guns from my cult friends. I belonged to the Eiye confraternity. We went for robberies like twice a week. We have snatched about 30 motorcycles from riders. “We had a buyer, who we simply called Mallam. He bought most of the bikes at prices ranging from N30, 000 to N70,000.

He would usually resell them too. I was arrested by the police in a hideout in Ishawo after they had first apprehended Emmanuel. My father does not know I am into robbery. Any time I did not come home, he would call me and advise me to change my ways but I never listened.

I was just stubborn.” Another suspect, Tiamiyu, 27 said., “I was an Indian hemp seller and had also served a jail term in Kirikiri, before I joined the gang .I was staying in the Itupate area of Ikorodu where I sold Indian hemp.

Deji Baale (Orisan) usually came to my joint to smoke and that was where I met him. He introduced me to the gang and I started going on robbery operations with them. “Before joining the gang, I had spent two years at the Kirikiri Medium Prisons from 2009 to 2011. I went with this gang on three occasions, and we also used my place as a hideout.”