Having participated in more than 10 different armed robbery operations, Asiyanbi has severally left behind sorrow, tears and serious psychological fear on his various victims.
Though, he was lucky to have escaped from all those operations, the cries of his victims might have reached the high heavens as he was later caught through the high powered intelligence of the Oyo State Police command led by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Katsina.
Interestingly, Asiyanbi was arrested on a day he was tying a nuptial knot with his unsuspecting and unlucky bride.
The suspect, who is a 42 year-old man, was arrested when he was at the registry to sign the marriage certificate.
According to the police, he was among a six-man-robbery gang who had variously terrorised residents of Challenge area of Ibadan.
Giving insights as to how the suspect and his colleagues were pinned down, Mr Katsina said “he was about to wed before we caught him. We laid ambush for them for more than seven days. When they decided to strike, it would have been one of the deadliest. They had wanted to attack one of the first generation banks. As they came in, we picked them one after the other. We will soon charge them to court. You can see the pistol we believe might belong to one of the law enforcement agents. Knowing that the game was up, the suspect confessed that he had been involved in 10 different robbery attacks before he was apprehended.”
For Asiyanbi, he narrated how he met his waterloo on his wedding day.
Hear him: “I am 42 year-old. I hail from Osun state, Ile-ife. I was arrested on my wedding day at the registry. We went to rob and we were caught along Challenge area. I was arrested on my wedding day. I met the gang leader, James Agba, last year, who told me that he knew how we could be getting regular money. He then initiated me into the gang. I have taken part in at least 10 operations since I joined them.
“We are six in number. We use guns but the guns belong to James Agba and Alhaji Sulaiman.”
Asked how he got guns, James Agba, 35 years, an Urhobo man from Delta State said, “we got the guns in Abuja from my secondary school friend, Joel. When I robbed four times, I was given a laptop and a phone. I bought the pistol from Emeka in Abuja. We collected phones and laptops in our four operations.”
Also arrested with the robbery suspects was a 63-year-old Ghanaian, James Matthew, who abandoned his security job and chose the path of destruction.
According to Matthew, “I am a security man at Ajibade area, Coca-cola in Ibadan. We use guns in our operations, but I don’t know where James was buying them from. Sulaiman and Alhaji, who are also in the gang, know how the guns were bought for our operations. I have fired shots at our targets but nobody was killed.”
While parading the suspects, the CP hinted that some suspected burglars were also arrested.
He disclosed that among the robbers were those, who allegedly used tranquillising drugs to force their victims to sleep after which they rob them of their valuables.
According to the CP, after the suspects had induced their victims to sleep, they would leave them for about thirty minutes.
He said: “we also arrested house breakers and burglars who perpetrate evil by injecting sleep-induced chemicals into the houses via the windows of innocent citizens of Nigerians who open their windows at night for fresh air as a result of the heat. Thirty minutes after this unscrupulous act is done, they go and rob these people who might have been asleep almost to the point of coma”.
Items recovered from them include LCD television sets, laptops among other items.
Speaking further, Katsina said, “at times you park your vehicle in front of your house, by the time you wake up the following morning, your vehicle is gone. So, we have decided to hunt them one after the other. But, in this case, this bus was snatched at Iwo, Osun state and this one from Akure.
This is what they use in damaging the ignition key no matter the type of vehicle, look at the owners of the vehicles as we return their vehicles to them.”
- Vanguard
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