Posted by By Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye on
The game is up for a deadly gang of armed robbers who specialized in raiding petrol stations.
The game is up for a deadly gang of armed robbers who specialized in raiding petrol stations. The five-man gang was arrested when they attempted to rob the Mobil fuel station at Obanikoro. They had stormed the station, armed to the teeth, but were intercepted by policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja.
One of the suspects, Gbenga Peters, who is the son of a retired soldier, said he met the leader of the gang, Muri Mosobolaje, through a friend in Ibadan. "I was living in Ibadan when I met Muri. He told me that he needed a generator for the house he had just finished building. So, I got the generator for him and that was how we became friends. He told me that he robs for a living and that he would want me to join them. During our first operation, we all met in Ibadan, where we robbed Total filling station".
Peters, 29, who claimed to hold a Diploma from Offa Polythecnic, Kwara State, said he worked in a company in Sango-Otta as a store supervisor before he joined the gang. He said: "It was after I met Muri that I stopped working. After the Ibadan robbery, we robbed another Texaco station at Sango-Otta and I got N20,000 for that. We did not get any money at Ajah when we robbed a Total station because the security was tight. The robbery at Obanikoro was the last robbery before we were arrested".
Another member of the gang, Charles Odoh, said he met Muri at the Tin-Can Island Ports. He explained that Muri used to hang around at the ports with his friends.
"Unfortunately, the government banned the importation of goods. I wasn't getting jobs. I told Muri that business was not moving as usual and begged him to help me in his own trade. He promised to call me when he had any business. Late last year, he called me from Ibadan and asked me to report at the tollgate. He took me to Ibadan, where we met other people who were to operate with us. We were eight in number. In the night, Muri took us to a filling station, where we robbed. I was given N15,000. Muri had initially surveyed the filling station and found out that the guards went hunting at night. That gave us a good opportunity to move in. The money was in the drawer and we took it. I was also given 40,000 after we robbed the station at Sango-Otta."
Odoh, 45, who had for 17 years lied to his family that he was a customs officer, further disclosed that the gang contributed N250,000 to buy guns. "Muri had two guns. But he asked us to contribute money because we needed more guns," he said.
Obinna Orji, the third suspect, said he met Charles at Alaba market. "I used to hustle at Alaba market by getting customers for shop owners. Charles lived a big boy life and sent me on errands after which he tips me generously. I told him that I had no job and he promised to get me a job through his friend, Muri. That was how I followed them to Ibadan. I was given N15,000 and N40,000 for the Sango robbery."
Orji, 29, also said that he used to travel to Akure and Ondo with one Denair to steal generator parts.
The last suspect, Okwudili Chukwuanni, who said he was a shoe maker, said it was misfortune that made him join the gang. Said he: 'I travelled to Spain in 2002 and spent six months before I was deported for having fake papers.
'I was stranded when I came to Lagos. I met Orji and he said that he would help me. It was the first time that I followed them to Obanikoro before I was arrested."
Meanwhile, the police are on the trail of the leader of the gang, Muri a.k.a Akinloye, who allegedly had different armed gangs all over the country.