No fewer than four suspected armed robbers were killed during a gun duel with operatives of the Lagos State Police Command in the last three weeks.
The command yesterday said it arrested 37 armed robbery suspects, nine alleged kidnappers and 39 cultists during the period under review.
Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni who made the disclosure during a news conference at the command’s headquarters, told reporters that 20 different calibre of weapons with 30 rounds of live ammunition, as well as 38 various vehicles were recovered.
According to Owoseni, the arrest of the cultists were sequel to intelligence report of their plot to wreak havoc across the state during their 8/8 (August 8) celebration.
“All police divisions were put on notice leading to their arrest. Members of one of the gangs were going to bury their colleague but in the process attempted to attack Denton Police Station. But the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and his men arrested nine of them on the spot and 21 others were later arrested. Two others were at the Shomolu and Bariga axis,” he said.
Fifteen of the 39 suspected cultists who admitted to belong to the Black Axe confratenity said they were paid N50,000 to kill one Yusuf Elegushi.
The suspects are Oguchukwu Obioha, 36, Moses Nefreke, 20, Udeme Samuel, 24, Onos Omovia, 19, Olayinka Agbadu, 35, Emeka Ezekiel 19, Kunle Odeyemi, 27, Michael Orji, 20, Lekan Adekoya, 20, Silva Berbra, 30, Dare Moru, 27, Kelechi Ezeaka, 25, Ayobami Ahmed, 20, Saviour David, 20, and Dickson Alex, 25.
They were alleged to have killed Elegushi, a woman and another man identified as Chyna in Ajah.
According to the suspects who admitted to have committed the crimes, they stormed Ajah following the shooting of one of their members in the leg.
They claimed that members of the Eiye confraternity who gunned their member boasted that they will kill whoever challenged them.
Mosu, who said they were arrested from their houses last month, confirmed that they were paid to kill Elegushi.
“We were paid to kill him. We killed the others because they shot one of our men. They shot him and were bragging that we cannot do anything. Out of anger, we got Chyna and after that, we went to a DJ’s house. He was not at home, so, we killed his wife,” he said.
Odeyemi, however, denied being part of those who were paid to kill the victim, disclosing that they usually met at Lekki to plan attacks.
Also paraded were a gang of three men including a driver, Mayowa Adenuga, who allegedly cloned the credit card of a businessman and stole about N2.9 million from his accounts within three days.
Mayowa, who was the man’s driver, had collected the unnamed man’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card while he was washing the vehicle and ran it on a software he devolped – Credit Card Revealer (CCR).
According to him, he collected the ATM card, ran it through the software and generated a new pin for it before handing it over to Opeyemi Adewale, 18, and Jeremaiah Titoye, 29, to go and shop at Mega Plaza and Shoprite.
“Before I started driving my Oga, I used to be a fraudster. I went to a computer institute and so, I developed the device which we used to clone credit cards. Honestly, my boss has been very good to me. It’s not up to a year I started working for him but he has always treated me kindly.
“I know I should have returned the card to him when I saw it but I just wanted to test the software whether it will work. And when I tried it and it worked, I knew that I could not use it myself because of the surveillance cameras at the ATM points. So, I sent them and asked them to withdraw N200,000 which they did.
“The following day, I told them to go to Mega Plaza and buy Apple laptop, phones, wristwatches and I also told them to go to Shoprite on Victoria Island and the one at Ikeja for shopping. Everything they bought amounted to N2.7 million.
“I did not work with any telecommunication company to bar my boss’ calls and text messages. I blocked his calls and sms on his phone when I had access to it. That way, he was not able to make calls nor send sms for about three days until he went to the subscriber to complain.
“I feel bad and I regret my actions. I am willing to pay back all that I stole from my boss. I am very sorry about my action,” he said.
Opeyemi, who said he never knew that the ATM card was stolen, said he thought that the owner was related to Adenuga since they bear the same surname.
He disclosed that Adenuga gave him N20,000, an i-Phone, a BlackBerry Z10 and a designer wristwatch, while Titoye was given N10,000 an i-Phone and a wristwatch.