Posted by By Wole Mosadomi, Minna on
THEY were the cynosures of the large crowd that besieged the Police Headquarters in Minna last Saturday and for the wrong reasons. It was the day that 33 suspected armed robbers were paraded.
THEY were the cynosures of the large crowd that besieged the Police Headquarters in Minna last Saturday and for the wrong reasons. It was the day that 33 suspected armed robbers were paraded.
The attraction really was that among the suspects were eight students, four of them from Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna and two brothers from the same parents who are now in police custody helping in further investigations.
Strikingly, the four FUT students were among the 140 students suspended by the university authority for their alleged involvement in cultism just last November. They were said to have met with the other suspects during initiation and 'graduated" to armed robbery immediately after they were suspended from the institution.
As the story went, it was in their first outing that they were unlucky and were caught. The names of the four students were given as Bankole Anawoye of the Department of Microbiology, Olufemi Oyewole Adebayo of Physics/Electronics dept, Baba Mohammed Takuma of Electrical/Computer Engineering and Uchenna Henry Wahive of the Department of Civil Engineering.
The two brothers involved are Bali Tangalu and Emmanuel Tangalu both from Kabala West in Kaduna; Adegoke Onifade from Sabon Tasha Kaduna while Sunday Alkali is also from Kaduna Polytechnic.
All the suspects, aged between 20 to 22 years were said to have invaded the residence of one Loveth Solomon last December and robbed the occupants of valuables and cash. Some of the items carted away included one projector valued at about N210,000; one computer laptop valued at N200,000; four different sets of GSM valued at about N60,000; N79,000 cash, wrist watches and a red Toyota Corona car with registration number BU 952 ABC. The car belongs to a Scot, Mr. Bernard McNaughton. The same car was used by the suspects to escape.
The suspects who wore masks to hide their true identities, were said to be armed with locally-made pistols and machetes. Menacingly, they brandished these dangerous weapons as they raided one apartment after the other, dispossessing the fear-filled occupants of their cherished belongings.
With the operation over, each person headed to his area of domicile with his own loot. But luck ran out of them when the state anti-robbery squad went into action immediately and trailed them to their abodes in Akure, Minna, Kaduna and Ibadan. Subsequently, they were all rounded up.
Apart from the pistols and life ammunitions found in their possession, one army shirt with the rank of lance corporal with a name tag bearing I.D. Chidi, two black axes, regalia and a mask, one clipper and a computer memory stake and walkman were also recovered from them.
Niger State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ernest Ibhaze was, indeed, excited when he addressed the press. 'It's painful that such people (students) were into this kind of game (robbery), but we're happy that they have been picked up. Investigation is on and at the appropriate time, they will be charged to court."
IT will be recalled that in October last year, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna, Professor Saa'd Tukur raised an alarm on the deep involvement of some of his students in cultism and called on them to renounce their membership.
Consequently, forty students publicly denounced their membership at the occasion organised by the caretaker committee in conjunction with the school management. Then, Prof. Tukur made it clear that 300 students were already on the list of the institution for allegedly belonging to various secret cults. He assured that those who renounced their membership would be pardoned and warned those adamant that a stiffer penalty awaited them. This led to 40 students renouncing their membership.
But whatever success recorded by the university in what it calls its zero tolerance for cultism, has taken the back bench in Niger State at the moment. Today, the talk is about these suspended four students who were paraded by the police on the allegation that they took part in a robbery operation.
'The alleged involvement of the FUT undergraduates and other students in the robbery remains a big shame to this nation," Alhaji Inuwa Sani, a prominent Minna resident told Saturday Vanguard. 'Where is our integrity again? Where is that pride of being a student? Where is the morality among our youths?
'I mean, it was bad enough that they were suspended by the school for cultism. To now go and rob people as it was alleged, tells you the level of the decay in the society. It's not the type of news that would lift anybody's spirit. As parents, we must continue to teach our children how to live their lives in a way that will benefit our society."
One of the suspects, Bankole Anawoye, a 200-level Microbiology student of FUT, Minna mustered the courage to speak with this reporter. Looking visibly and understandably depressed, he said that he went into robbery 'out of frustration."
Hear him:
What's your department in FUT, Minna?
Microbiology.
What level are you in now?
200 level (second year).
And you say you are frustrated...
Yes.
Do you have parents?
Yes.
Where are they?
They are in our state.
Are they aware that you are in this problem?
I don't know but I think my father is aware.
Has he ever shown up?
He has shown up.
But what we were told was that you people were cult members and that you people were among those 142 suspended by the school...
No, my name was not there.
How come you were among this gang then?
They are my friends.
What type of friendship is that?
School friends.
School friends to rob?
No. Haba!
You were said to have robbed a white lady...
She's not even a white lady but a girl.
How much did you get from the operation?
N9,000.
And how did you people share it?
(Already crying) Well, I got out of the money.
Who got the lion's share?
Everybody got equal. Each person got N9000.
How many of you were involved?
Five.
For how many times have you robbed someone or some people?
It was my first time.
As a university student, how did you get into this messy thing?
I don't even know. It was just out of frustration over many troubles I was facing. I'm so sorry.
(At this point, Onawoye began to cry so much that the interview could not continue.)