New Telegraph

Confessions of soldiers’ children: Why we used our dads’ camouflage, ID cards to rob

Four men, two among them twin brothers, have confessed to how posing as soldiers, using camouflages and their fathers’ identity cards, made it so easy to fool Nigerians then rob them. The suspects, Taiwo and Kehinde Ojomo, Emmanuel Bamidele and Peter Samuel, all children of retired soldiers, were arrested by Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Lagos State. The bursting of the gang was led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, who is also the leader of the IRT Unit.

The gang members confessed to have used their retired fathers’ identity cards and uniforms to hoodwink and rob Nigerians. The police stated that the gang specialised in car snatching and robbing unsuspecting bus passengers of their valuables, using locally made gun and military uniforms.

They were arrested in a hotel in the Idimu area of the metropolis. The downfall of the gang began after one of their victims, Abiodun Sadiq, a resident of Bariga, Lagos State, who was robbed of his Toyota Corolla Saloon car and other valuables at gunpoint in August 2020, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, about the incident. The police said: “When our men commenced investigations, they had difficulty in arresting the suspects as they continued to hide at the Ojo and Ikeja military cantonments. After months of investigations, our operatives switched it focus and went after persons buying the stolen items from the suspects at Alaba International Market. ‘‘We arrested and made them to organise a rendezvous for us.

The robbers were told that we had a big robbery operation for them and they agreed to meet at a hotel located in Idimu. When we got there, we found them seated and drinking. We arrested four of them.” One of the twins, Taiwo, 29, accused his brother, Kehinde, of luring him into robbery. He disclosed that he and his brother decided to form their own separate gangs because they didn’t want police to arrest them at one fell swoop. Unfortunately, that was what eventually happened.

Taiwo said: “I reside close to Ikeja cantonment area. My father was a retired soldier while my mother works with Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA). I attended Nigeria Army Children School in Ikeja and dropped out of secondary school because there was no money. In order to survive, I learnt how to drive and began to drive soldiers around.’’ Revealing their mode of operations, Taiwo said that one of their members used to wear camouflage, fooling and pulling passengers into a false sense of security. His words: “Just because of the camouflage our members wore, our target or targets would assume it was safe to board the bus, believing the soldiers in camouflage would protect them. We normally use this method of operation along lonely routes like Abeokuta Expressway, LASU-Igando route and Ikorodu road. The highest I had made after a robbery operation was N100, 000.”

He further stated that it was Samuel, one of the gang members, that was in charge of selling items snatched from victims robbed. He disclosed that Samuel had many customers at the Alaba International Market, where valuables like phones and other electronic gadgets were easily sold. Stating his own side of the story, Kehinde said: “I reside inside Ojo barracks. Taiwo is my twin brother and both of us dropped out of secondary school after our father died. My mother couldn’t afford to train us and I was sent to learn how to repair vehicles, which I did for years until I met one Cyril, who later became my best friend. ‘‘We formed a three-man gang. Other members of the gang are Magajia and Cyril. I was the one who introduced my twin brother into robbery.

He kept asking where I got money, so I had no choice than to show him the way. Kehinde explained that the camouflages, which were recovered by the police, were being used by the gang members to deceive and rob people. Peter Samuel, 22, a shoe cobbler, said that he lost his mom when he was a teenager. He lives with his brothers and sisters at Ikorodu. He narrated: “My father is a retired army officer and while he was in service, he served at the Ikeja military cantonment.

He’s presently working as a security guard at Ajah area of the metropolis. Bamidele, 29, an electrician, said: “I live at the Ojo Army Barracks. I was also at the hotel when the police came and arrested us. I started armed robbery in 2016. My father is also a retired soldier but we were allowed to live in the barracks after his retirement. ‘‘My gang members are David, Cletus, Taiwo and Kehinde. I have robbed several persons and I had been arrested once by the police at Area B, Police Command. I was taken to prison, where I spent months over the same offence. After I was released, I went back to my gang. We used the military uniforms to deceive our passengers and then robbed them.”

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