The man was a suspect. He was apprehended at a robbery scene by residents. Like law abiding citizens which they are they took him to a police station. There, they received the shock of their lives. “You should have killed him”, they were told by those expected to protect him. Why?
Residents of Jubril Liasu, Ayo- Ola Edun and Igbalajobi streets in Agbado Crossing, a suburb in the outskirts of Ogun State regretted not killing one of the robbers they caught at the scene of robbery when some angry police officers unofficially told them they should have killed the culprit themselves instead of handing him over to the police. Gbenga David was allegedly one of the armed robbers who recently stormed the area and robbed about 16 houses at a go.
Some of the affected residents who spoke with Saturday Mirror, said that the about 20 fully armed bandits, had a field day that fateful day, plundering their houses and dispossessing them of their money and other valuables amidst severe beating. Pa Misbaudeen Badmus, one of the victims who doubles as the Seriki Adinni of the local mosque in the locality shivered with rage as he narrated how the dare devil marauders forced open the door to his sitting room and hacked down the door leading to his room to gain entrance to the inner recesses of his apartment.
He said: “I was woken up from my sleep when one of them shouted at me with a command tone ‘Where is your money!’ First, I thought it was a dream but the reality of the whole scenario dawned on me when I heard the voice again. “I told them there was no money. They asked for my handsets but before I could say anything one of them saw the set where I was charging it, disconnected it from the electric socket and put it in his pocket.
“They also asked for my money, which I told them again that I did not have. Then, one of them told his colleagues that I was stubborn, that they should deal with me with all seriousness. “It was then I realised that there was an insider among the robbers, probably one of them that was covering his face. While this was going on, they split themselves into three groups; one group was with me while the other two went to my wife’s, children’s and other tenants’ rooms within the building.
“They spent about 30 minutes with me but before they left me they made away with my trousers which I wore to work the previous day. It contained my ID cards and other valuable documents. “When they left me, I went outside the house probably to seek assistance from other people within the locality. I saw one of the robbers in front of my house hiding behind the kerosene tank of my wife but I could not strike him because I was not armed. I did not expect to meet any of their members outside the house. “I left where he was because he did not see me.
Then I tried to seek help from others within the area but I later found out that other houses were being robbed simultaneously. I came back home to plead on behalf of my family and other tenants, so that more damage would not be done to them after they might have collected the little they could get from them. “They left thereafter and moved on to other houses where they believed they could get more loot,” he recounted.
Chief Ayo Ola Edun’s house was also visited. Edun is the chairman of the area’s Community Development Association and his name is used to name one of the streets under siege. It was gathered that the armed bandits robbed about six rooms in the building and made away with large sums of money and other valuables like wristwatches, handsets and trinkets. In their characteristic manner, they continued with the operations by moving to the house of a man identified as Baba Ijebu.
The robbers, according to eye witnesses, forced the main entrance door open by hacking it down and moving directly to their victim’s room where they robbed him of his handsets, those of his wife and daughter and made straight to one of his son’s (Jeleel’s) room. The bandits however met a little resistance from him as the young man refused to open the door.
They were said to have threatened the man with gun but their seeming intrepid victim stood his ground until axe was used to force open the lower part of the door through which they gained entrance into his room. On entering his room, they made straight for his handsets but they were able to get one because other sets fell behind the chair.
“They asked for money and I told them that I had none. They also demanded for the key of my motorcycle, but I told them the key was not with me. I told them it’s with someone in the third street and they so desired the okada that they wanted me to lead me them to the place to collect the key. But sensing that it was dangerous to do so, they hurriedly left our house with their loot at 2:30am,” he said.
He said Hammed, his younger brother, too was not spared as they collected his handsets and some amount of money. They also asked him for the key of his motorcycle, which he gave them. “But when they found that the motorcycle (Jincheng) is not the type that would quickly attract buyers they returned the key to him but continued with their operation in the house until they made sure they robbed all the tenants,” he added.
But David, believed to be one of the bandits who terrorized the residents, actually did not meet his waterloo until two weeks after when he led another gang to rob the people in the neighbourhood. He and his gang members however met resistance from the aggrieved youths of the area, who apprehended him while trying to escape.
Though his other colleagues escaped, luck ran out of him as, according to residents, he was arrested when trying to scale the fence to another street. He was brought to the street square where he was questioned on how he got himself into the mess. According to him, he is “a phone accessory seller at Rafco area of Agbado Crossing, Ogun State.” David also denied being a thief as he insisted that he had been mistaken as one.
“I am not a thief. It was when the police are raiding the market to rid the place of hoodlums that I ran away from the market around 1:30am. That was how I ran to this neighbourhood because one of the policemen knew me and I didn’t want him to see me that night. That is why I ran away,” David said.
Residents alleged that he had once been arrested and jailed for robbery. “One of the policemen knew me and he said I am a thief but I am not, though I had just returned from cell in Ibara. I did not steal then. I fought with one of my father’s tenants, wounded him and I was taken to court and subsequently jailed in 2008.”
When asked further why he didn’t go back to his parents, he could not give a definite answer which makes people around to believe that he was truly an armed robber as he was not coordinated in his response. He was subsequently taken to the police station by the landlords and some youths in the area.
“When we took him to the station, some of the officers on duty were able to recognise him as an ex-convict. Some of them instantly became angry and said we should have killed him once and for all instead of bringing him to the police station,” a landlord, who preferred anonymity, said.
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