Posted by By Ebere Elezie on
A 20-year-old robbery suspect held at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) of the Nigeria Police for car theft stunned detectives during the week when he revealed that only a good job can take him off banditry.
A 20-year-old robbery suspect held at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) of the Nigeria Police for car theft stunned detectives during the week when he revealed that only a good job can take him off banditry.
Lekan Idowu, a vulcanizer and a school drop out told Saturday Sun in Lagos that he would stop stealing if he could get a job with N40, 000 monthly salary. Lekan, former inmate at the Ikoyi prisons insisted that though he did not love stealing, any salary less than that will not take him anywhere. 'But where is the job in Nigeria," he asked rhetorically.
He was arrested with a five-man gang after they robbed a man of his car.
Re-arrest
Lekan further narrated what led to his re-arrest after his release from Ikoyi prisons last year. ' I went to party with some friends in Mowe, in Ogun State. After the party, we were unable to get a bus back home, while we were waiting for a vehicle, we saw a Mercedes 230 parked along the road.
When we got to the place the Benz was parked the owner was nowhere to be found, when we searched around the area, we saw the owner in the bush easing him.
At this point, the boys frightened him with a toy gun and he handed the keys to them. One of our gang members, John, went inside the vehicle and drove the vehicle to Ebute Metta. They left the Benz in John's care 'but after some time, John and Emma, removed the pointer and headlight from the car for sale. In the course of trying to take more parts from the Benz that the security men arrested us."
Juicy loot
Lekan said the five-member gang has been operating in every part of Lagos for sometime now. He said he got N30, 000 from their first operation. 'We operated around Obalende, area of Lagos. We stopped cars with our toy guns made of woods and collected handsets and other valuables with them. On that day, we made N130, 000 between 9pm and 10pm, though we were five in number, it was three of us that went on that particular operation.
I was given N30, 000 because I was new in the gang.
Since then, he said, they have gone on several operations together. 'John and Emma are now in prison, while Wasiu is at large. But one of us has been killed. The operation that landed me in prison was the one I played a very minor role, I was the driver, I carried them on Okada, I was arrested and sent to Ikoyi prison."
Regrets
While Lekan blamed his entry into banditry on greed, another member of the gang, Christian Oji, 18, sees it as outcome of bad company. ' I am here today due to the bad company I move around with. I went to the party with my friends but I did not know they were thieves. When they brought the gun out, they warned me not to say anything but follow them in their activities.
I joined them in the Benz, and left them at Ebute Metta. Later I was arrested where I was sleeping. This is a shame to my family who is not aware of my wherebout. I am here now and I don't know what their reaction would be when they getting to know that I was arrested for robbery. I kept bad company and I am now paying for it". He lamented.