The police in Ogun have held three members of a five-man armed robbery gang, just as they were burying their leader, who was shot dead during an operation at Ijebu-Ode.
The three suspects, arrested at the cemetery, had been identified as Mafee Alex, Sunday John and Shoboyejo Ishahu.
Ogun State police spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi said that on August 16, 2010, at about 7:30 a.m, the command received information that one Solomon, a suspected robber, was killed during crossfire operation and buried at a cemetry in Ikenne, Ogun State, by his gang.
“Upon receiving this information, policemen attached to Ikenne Division swung into action,” Adejobi said. “Many indigenes of the town gave us useful information, which led to the arrest of the suspects.”
One of the suspects, Alex, confessed to being a member of the gang, adding that the gang leader, Solomon, was shot dead during an operation at Ijebu-Ode.
Alex told the Nigerian Compass how the gang went to rob victims who put up a brave front and resisted the armed attack.
According to him, Solomon sustained injury from a gunshot during the operation and later died.
“But to avoid being detected by the police, we hurriedly planned his burial. We bought a space at a cemetry in Ikenne to bury him,” said Alex. “We told his wife and other family members that the deceased sustained injury in a motor accident. However, unknown to us, some members of the community who had been monitoring our activities, informed the police about our movement in the community. We were later arrested.”
Adejobi said that Solomon’s elder brother was in church, when people informed him about the death of his kid brother.
Adejobi explained that the elder brother to the deceased confessed to police that his younger brother’s friends told him that the man was involved in a road accident.
But he had immediately suspected a foul play because the wound he saw on Solomon’s leg, looked like one inflicted by a bullet.
Items recovered from the suspects included one pump action gun, three live cartridges, one barreta pistol, one Nokia handset and a bag containing laptop and charms.
Adejobi told the Nigerian Compass that the suspects would soon be charged to court.
In another development, Mayowa Abegunrin, a primary five pupil, has been held over the killing of his stepmother, Mrs. Modinat Abegunrin.
The suspect, Mayowa looked very innocent with nothing to suggest that he could hurt a fly, let alone kill a human being. People at the police command, especially women, thought that police had mistaken the boy for somebody. As far as they were concerned, he could not have killed anybody.
Adejobi said people were shocked when the young boy, without mincing words, confessed to have actually killed the victim.
Adejobi said: “On August 14, 2010, at about 9:00a.m, one Alfred Sofela, of Amusa Sapotu village, via Odeda in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, was the person who reported the case at Odeda Police Station, that one 12-year-old Mayowa Abegunrin, of same village, used his grandfather’s Dane gun to shoot his stepmother and killed her. The suspect was arrested and the case is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Abeokuta.
The boy said: “My name is Mayowa Abegunrin. I am in primary five. The woman was my step-mother. I lived in the village with my grandfather, while my step-mother lived in Lagos with my daddy. My own mother is no longer with my daddy. My step-mother only came to visit my grandfather. It’s unfortunate that the woman died. She was my stepmother and we had a good relationship, but we used to quarrel once in a while.
“On that fateful day, I woke up very early and after doing all necessary house chores like washing and fetching water from the stream, she said I should start peeling Cassava. At that stage, I became annoyed. I went to complain to her that the job was too much for me; that I needed time to rest. She refused to understand my plight. She started abusing me. I became annoyed and I went to take my grandfather’s gun and shot her on the chest. She died on the spot.”
The suspect’s grandfather, Pa Abegunrin, 75, told the police that he is a farmer and also hunted animals on the side. He explained that the Dane gun used to kill the woman belonged to him.
The old man, who attributed the incident to the Devil, said: “We have been living together for some years now. The boy’s father is my own son. The child is a gentle boy, which was why I was surprised, when they told me of the incident. I was not around when the incident occurred, but when I returned, people told me that he had killed his step-mother.”
The Commissioner of Police, Musa Daura, urged parents not to keep live ammunition at home to avoid unpleasant incidents.
Daura added: “We have been advising members of the public to desist from keeping live ammunition at home! It’s illegal! Imagine the fate of this under- aged boy now. The grandfather too will be charged to court for being in possession of live ammunition. People who have guns at home should come forward to register them and obtain license. It is illegal to keep guns at home without valid papers.”
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