BIRDS of a feather flock together andshow me your friend and I will tell youwho you are, are popular sayings. It was, therefore, not suprising that the long arms of the law caught up with the duo of Ibrahim Adeyemi and Olabisi Olalekan after they snatched two cars at gun point in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, on Thursday, October 13.The day dawned for the duo along Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode road when they were stopped by the federal highway team on routine check. Having presented particulars of the Toyota Camry car with registration number EM 737 FST, the policemen requested to check the booth of the car. Opening the booth with confidence, Adeyemi, who drove the car had thought that he would soon get over the check, but realised he was in hot soup when he saw about 16 mobile phone staring at him in the face from the booth, alongside other belongings he could not account for. Adeyemi was blabbering each time he was questioned by the police on the things found in the car, and this prompted the suspicion that they could be armed robbers.However, revelations came when they were immediately transferred to the State Anti-Robbery Squad, Dugbe, Ibadan as it was discovered that the car was snatched the previous day in Ilorin by Adeyemi's gang led by one Mr Olaniyi a.k.a. Marshall. The owner of the Camry car was not the only victim of the robbery gang as another Toyota Camry with registration number AE 868 AJW was also snatched.NigerianTribune gathered that as the duo were being interrogated by SARS operatives, a call came through from Kwara Police Command concerning the second car, on the tip that the vehicle was hidden somewhere in Ibadan. On hearing this, SARS, Skynet and Panther operatives stormed a private house in Akobo area of Ibadan and found the car parked at Marshall's residence.At Marshall's apartment, the key of the car was found in a packet of tea. Other items recovered from Marshall's house include keys of different vehicles, car mats, different car documents, ignitions of cars, a pair of number plates with registration number RU 260 KJA, a Motorola walkie-talkie and a bank note counter. Though, Marshall was nowhere to be found.Some neighbours who witnessed the operation of the police were overheard making comments that Marshall always had people coming in and going out of his house, and that they never knew that he was into such a big crime. Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Ibrahim, who said that he was a bricklayer and met Marshall on a site where he was working, revealed that he did not initially know that the gang leader was into robbery.According to Ibrahim, 'I met Marshall in Lagos where I was working as a bricklayer and he told me he was a contractor and a car dealer. He told me he would invite me whenever he had any job to do. Some weeks ago, he called me and told me to come to Ijebu-Ode to help him drive a car that he wanted to take for repair. We met in Ijebu-Ode and he took me to Ilisan-Remo in his own personal car, a Toyota Corolla where I saw a Honda Accord car (baby boy) parked. I believe the operation must have been done earlier. I drove the car back to Ijebu Ode and he took over the car and gave me N20,000.'On Wednesday, October 12, Marshall called me again that he had a job for me in Ilorin. I invited my friend, Olabisi, to join me because he is not doing anything as at now. We got to Ilorin and lodged in an hotel. The following day, Marshall took us round Ilorin and we snatched two Camry cars, one after the other. He asked me to drive the first one from the scene of robbery, he later took over from me and went to keep it somewhere. We later went after our second victim and he asked me to take the car to Ijebu-Ode where he would later come and collect it.'Olabisi and I left Ilorin late and slept in Ibadan. It was the next morning when we were going to Ijebu Ode that we were stopped by the police. I showed them the vehicle particulars and after checking, they asked me to open the booth. I didn't know that Marshall packed some things in the booth. The police saw the mobile phones and I also saw the woman's bag with many clothes. That was how trouble started. I was first taken to a police station from where I was taken to police headquaters. It was from there we were taken to SARS'.The second suspect, Olabisi, said, 'I am from Ipetumodu in Osun State. I live in Ikeja, Lagos. I am into POP ceiling work. I was not into robbery before this incident. I was invited by my friend, Ibrahim, to go and work on a house in Ilorin. When we met Marshall, I thought he was going to show us where to work but was surprised when he started taking us round the town.'At a point, he took us to a beer parlour and told us that the key to the place we wanted to work was with someone and the person was yet to be back in Ilorin. After we finished eating around 5p.m., we went back to the car and said he wanted to take us round Ilorin township so that we would be familiar with the place anytime we come there ourselves.'Suddenly, I just saw that he wanted to snatch a car. I asked whether he knew that person but Ibrahim replied that it seems that is what he does. I would have got down but I had no money or know anyone or where to go.'When asked the reason the two suspects did not turn themselves into the police when they were unwilling participants in the car snatching saga, Olabisi replied that 'I thought that we would escape it but I was determined not to answer such call again.' On whether he was being induced into crime by the marijuana he was taking, Olabisi said he was not criminally-inclined but was taking hemp to get strength for the type of work he was doing. 'If you see me where I am working you will know that such work demands strength which cannot be gotten ordinarily without an energy booster like Indian hemp,' he said.The two owners of the cars, Mr Wale Adegbenle and Mrs Wunmi Afolayan who both lost valuables which included various documents and cash, recounted their experiences.Mr Adegbenle , who said he was in the car with his brother, said, 'they collected my brother's two phones also. After that, they asked the two of us to get into the vehicle, they wanted to take us away. We started begging again. All my credentials were in the vehicle too. I am a Jehovah's Witness and we were to go for assembly the following day so I had bought so many things, shoes and clothes. In fact, my booth was loaded. One of the assailants wanted to strip me naked as he asked me to put off my clothes but I started begging him again.'In her case, Mrs Afolayan said she lost her wristwatch, 'my bag containing my ID card, three envelopes containing my tithe (N6,500) and pledges I made in the church which were N5,000 and N3,000.There was another N3,000 I tucked by the side of my bag. There was also another N5,000 which were mint notes in N100 denomination. They went away with my daughter's money which she said was about N10,000, her phone and her luggage which contained her clothings and a faulty phone she had the intention of repairing.'Though the cars and the phones were recovered, Mr Adegbenle said his certificates which were taken away were yet to be recovered by the police. The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Femi Okanlawon, however, said the case had been released to the Kwara State Command since that was where the crime was committed.
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