I turned to robbery after govt demolished my shop — Robbery suspect
The suspects; Jolly Abienekpen, (30); and Olalekan Olumide (21) were reportedly arrested by policemen attached to Iponri Division on January 4, 2015, while dispossessing their victims who were returning from the National Theatre in Iganmu area of the state, of cash and other valuables.
Recovered from them were a locally made cut-to- size gun with four live cartridges.
In this interview with Crime Guard, Jolly Abienekpen, blamed his indulgence in crime to the demolition of his shop by the state government, an action he said made it difficult for him to fend for his wife and six-month -old child.
According to him: “ My friend Olumide and I went to the National Theatre to rob people of their phones and cash. We only succeeded in robbing two persons when the Police swooped on us. Olumide managed to escape while I was arrested. I later led the Police to Olumide’s place.
“Before my arrest, I have participated in house -to- house robbery in Ketu and Mushin areas of Lagos and several other robbery operations.
How the gang was formed
“I was introduced into robbery by a friend named Shitta. I met him under the bridge at Ijora where we usually go to smoke Indian hemp. During one of the meetings, Shitta introduced me to Oyo and Aluma . He sold the idea of robbery to us and we keyed into it. Right there, the four-man gang was formed. “When they noticed I was lilly- livered, they told me to be holding the bag,where loots are kept during operation. I usually stood outside during operation, to alert other members of Police presence or any intruder while the rest would be inside. We made use of two guns which were handled by Oyo and Aluma.
“But I was always cheated because they didn’t give me any reasonable amount at the end of any successful operation. I only got between N4, 000 to N7,000 after an operation, an amount they advised me to use to keep body and soul together until I became hardened”.
Continuing, the Edo state born suspect said: “ The gun that was recovered from me during operation was given to me by one young man called Bassey, who was just released from prison. I also met him at the India hemp joint”
Demolition of shop
“I never planned to be a robber. I joined out of frustration. I was once a barber. Then, I made N1000 to N1500 every day, out of which I delivered between N500 and N700 to the shop owner and used the rest to feed my family. I stopped barbing last year after government demolished our shops in NPA quarter, Victoria
Island. To make ends meet I started pushing cart in Iddo, that was what I used to cater for myself and my family.
But for peer pressure I would have continued with my cart pushing. I was enticed by the way Shitta spent spent money. That was why when he sold the idea to me, I jumped at it, with the hope to raise about N30, 000 to establish another barbing saloon shop”.On his part, Olalekan Olumide who just finished serving a jail term in July last year, expressed regrets over his indulgence, likening himself to a dog that would always go back to its vomit.
Looking remorseful, the Osun state born said: “ I was arrested because I went with Jolly on a robbery operation. I knew Jolly at Iddo, where I worked as a cart pusher. The most painful aspect is that this is the first robbery operation I have participated in since I left the prison
six months ago. I decided to go with them because I needed money to take care of some pressing issues. I was not promised any amount. The assurance I got was that they would share the loot equally at the end of the operation.
Journey to jail
“I was thrown into the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, for vandalising, stealing and selling government property. I stole some copper wire from Apagbon and sold it for N70, 000. I used the money to rent an apartment . After serving my jail term, I promised never to indulge in any crime that will take me to prison . But from the look of things, I may be heading for the prison again and I wonder how long I will be there”.
Explaining how they were arrested, the Lagos State Police Public Relation Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP told Crime Guard that a team of Policemen attached to Iponri Division who were on a routine patrol at National Theatre Iganmu Lagos, “arrested one Jolly Abienekpen of no fixed address while robbing innocent citizens of their belongings. Other members of the gang took to their heels on sighting the policemen. He confessed to the crime and was transferred to the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS for further investigation and the police are still working towards apprehending some other members of the gang who are currently at large”.
