New Telegraph

We rob residents during gang clashes –Teenager

A suspected member of a notorious gang, Star Boys, at the Ijesha area of Lagos has told the police that gangs in the area and Itire usually take advantage of violent clashes to rob residents.
The suspect, Opeyemi Ayoola (19), was arrested alongside four others by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, after an attack on an unnamed resident of the area.
The teenager confessed to being a member of Star Boys but denied ever robbing anybody in any of the clashes that he took part in.
Ayoola also admitted that he was aware that some of his colleagues took advantage of the clash to rob.
Others arrested by the police were Segun Oladokun, Oluwasegun Ajagun, Friday Aduadu and Jimoh Qudus.
Other suspects, except Jimoh and Friday, confessed to being members of the notorious group. The two men were said to be security men at a hotel in the area, where the gang reportedly kept one of their guns.
Ayoola said he was a commercial motorcyclist.
He said: “I was sleeping in my friend’s house when I was arrested by the police for allegedly belonging to a gang that robbed people in the area.
“It is true that I am a member of Star Boys and we used to fight with the Itire Boys. They destroyed the windscreen of one of our tricycles which led to the first clash between us. We used to fight with them but I don’t know any other thing that caused the fight between us.
“It is true that boys used to take advantage of the clashes between us to rob people in the area. I have seen people robbing residents. There was never a time that I joined them to rob anybody. I only joined them to fight, because I derive joy in fighting.
“In fact, there was a time I rescued someone in my area, who was about to be attacked by some of our boys. They attacked one Alfa and I told them that he was one of our elder brothers in the neighbourhood. I helped him to retrieve his stolen phone and other valuables.
“We don’t use guns to fight. We use knives, matchetes, planks, broken bottles and iron. I have never seen any of us use a gun in any fight.”
On his part, Oladokun said he was the only authentic member of the Star Boys.
He said: “Others are just using the name of the group to foment trouble. We use the group to help one another in the area like a social club. I know some of our junior ones do fight with their counterparts in Itire but I have never been a part of it.
“I am a cobbler and I also ride tricycle whenever I have nothing to do in my shop. It was Opeyemi that pointed me to the police as one of the leaders of the Star Boys. Opeyemi and others are younger to us and there is no way we can belong to the same group.”
Oladokun also denied the accusation by the police that he was one of the armourers of the gang.
He said: “I don’t have any gun in my possession. They are talking about a gun that belongs to my friend, Qudus. They have gone to the hotel where the gun was kept by my friend.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said the police were on the trail of other members of the gang and their counterparts at Itire.
The police boss also warned gangsters and other criminals in other parts of the state that his command would not allow them to hide under any name to cause lawlessness in the state.

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