The Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested four members of a syndicate who specialise in robbing and killing Point of Sale (POS) operators and Uber drivers in the state.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, the command’s spokesperson who made the disclosure in a statement on Thursday, said the suspects narrated how they carry out their heinous crimes.
According to Oyeyemi, the suspects: Kehinde Saliu Jelili, aka Oluomo, Abiodun Akinola, Johnson Fakeye, and Jamiu Akinola were arrested after officers acted on a report lodged at Onipanu divisional headquarters on April 18 by a POS attendant, Aanu Salaudeen.
He said Salaudeen told the police that her boss, Abiodun Odebunmi got missing after he went to meet a customer with a cash sum of N4, 000, 000 to be used for a POS transaction.
According to her, they had done a transaction of N1.5 million with the person who invited his boss the previous day, and that it was the same person who called his boss to meet him at Ojuore for another POS transaction of N4 million.
The burnt corpse of the victim was, however, discovered in an uncompleted building at Arobieye area of Ota albeit with no trace of the assailants.
The police further launched an investigation which led to the arrest of one of the kidnap kingpins who said their chief victims are POS operators and Uber drivers. The other three suspects were arrested in connection with the crime.
The statement partly read, “The case was transferred to the homicide section of the state criminal investigation and intelligence department on the order of the commissioner of police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun, who mandated the homicide team to unravel the perpetrators of the dastardly act within the shortest possible period.
“The CSP Femi Olabode-led homicide team, in compliance with the CP’s directive, embarked on a technical and intelligence-based investigation, which led them to Otun Ekiti in Ekiti state where the suspect was discovered to be hibernating.
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“On getting to Ekiti, the suspect got wind of the presence of the detectives and quickly escaped to Offa in Kwara state. With determination to apprehend him, the team continued trailing him and they later got information that he was in Benin Republic, where he had gone to attend the court session of Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, and that he would soon be coming to Nigeria.
“Having gotten the information about the day he would be returning to Nigeria, the team laid ambush for him and got him arrested at the boundary between Ogun and Lagos states. On interrogation, Kehinde Salihu Jeili, who claimed to be a native of Apomu in Osun state confessed to killing the victim.
“He confessed further that he deliberately lured the victim to Ota where he and his gang members were waiting for him with the money he was asked to bring, having transacted a N1.5 million business with him the previous day, and that they macheted him to death after collecting the money from him. He stated further that they burnt the victim’s body to cover their tracks.
“He confessed further that their targeted victims are always Uber and POS operators. According to him, one of them will pretend as a passenger to the Uber driver and will lure such a driver to where his members were waiting, and as soon as he got to the place, the driver will be hacked to death and the car will be taken away to their receiver.
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“Also, the suspect stated further that he and his gang attacked another victim of their criminal act one Idowu Ademiluyi at Itori area and snatched his Toyota Corolla car, having macheted him to the point of death.
The arrest of Kehinde Salihu led the detectives to their receiver, Abiodun Akinola who is a standby buyer of all the proceeds of their crime.
“The confessional statements of the duo led to the arrest of the other two suspects, Johnson Fakeye and Akinola Jamiu at Atan Ota and Owode Yewa respectively. One Toyota Camry, one Toyota Corolla, and one Toyota Rave 4, whose owners had been gruesomely murdered were recovered from the gang.”
Meanwhile, the commissioner of police, Ajogun, commended the team for the investigation which lasted for almost three months.
He, however, noted that it is not over until the last member of the gang is arrested. Ajogun, therefore, appealed to members of the public to always disclose their movements to a trusted person, whenever they have cause to keep an appointment with an unknown person.
The police boss has also directed that the suspects be charged to court as soon as the investigation is concluded.