Posted by By JULIANA FRANCIS on
A new devil who is suspected to be a soldier has emerged to rule the Lagos underworld.
A new devil who is suspected to be a soldier has emerged to rule the Lagos underworld. The police know him as Shaggy and he appears to be another Anini or Shina Rambo in the making.
Already, one of the myths being built around him is that he could disappear with the aid of a charm when the police are after him. Shaggy, who is now number one on police wanted list, has been described as a cat with nine lives.
The question, who is Shaggy, is now the refrain on the lips of policemen in Lagos. Out of ten robbers arrested, five would claim to belong to Shaggy's gang.
How he continues to evade arrest is now a mystery most anti-robbery squads are working hard to unravel at all cost. Daily Sun heard that cops became determined to hunt down the kingpin after they realized that he was always the only one to escape after each robbery, then he would raise a new gang.
On March 3, 2005, cops from Pedro police division in Shomolu area of Lagos smashed a commercial bus robbery gang. One of the robbers, identified as Chidi Osaken, who got a bullet during a gun battle with the police before he died, claimed to belong to Shaggy's gang. Osaken had further told detectives that Shaggy stays in the Ikeja military cantonment and also at a hideout around Kuramo beach on Victoria Island.
For long, Kuramo beach has become a den swarming with robbers. During confessions by robbers, Kuramo beach and army barracks were usually mentioned as where they or their members lay low after successful operations. It is also those places they claim to meet to plan for prospective operations. Judging from numbers of guns recovered from suspected members of the gang, it is believed that the gang must have sent many victims to an early grave.
Another suspect who was arrested by policemen at the Area 'G" command Ogba, identified himself as Taofeek Obisesan a.k.a Tao Egba. He said he was a member of the terrible Shaggy gang. Obisesan was nabbed on March 20, 2005. He told cops that Shaggy had led them on several dreadful operations. He said their sphere of influence covered a wide area, including Ipaja, Katangwa, Egbeda and Abeokuta. Obisesan revealed that Shaggy was the brain behind the procurement of guns for operations.
Daily Sun learnt that Shaggy usually recruits young hands into the gang and trains them on the use of arms.
On February 18, 2005, one Morufu Akande aka, Osofa was arrested for robbery. Mentioning the names of members of his gang, he said they include Tao Egba, Ego, Shaggy, Inaa, Baba Gana, Ade, Friday Igwe, Lateef, Luku and Ayo Muyiwa.
Okechukwu Anigbo, 20, another robbery suspect also said he was a member of Shaggy's gang.
Speaking on Shaggy, a police officer said: ' He is a member of a notorious gang. His mother stays at Ifo in Ogun State. We heard that a team of policemen from Zone 2 went to Ogun State to look for him concerning a robbery incident but found he had escaped with his mother. They packed out all their properties and locked the door. Shaggy does not stay in Lagos but Ogun State. His mother sells food and nobody could say if he is married.
Recently, Daily Sun learnt that cops narrowly missed Shaggy when they arrested Obisesan at a party in Ogun State. Detectives acting on a tip-off had laid ambush for Obisesan. Immediately he was pointed out, they pounced on him, unaware that Ego, another wanted suspect was also at the party. Ego was said to have rushed out of the party to tell Shaggy.
It was Obisesan who later told cops that Ego was at the party with him. Most robbers caught in 2004, had links with Shaggy's gang.