The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos has arrested a suspected armed robber who concealed a locally made gun inside a disc player.
The suspect, Azeez Adebayo, a native of Ifo in Ogun State was arrested in the course of an undercover operation by the police.
According to the police, Adebayo is a member of an armed robbery gang, which normally comes to Lagos to rob and then return to the neighbouring states.
“We then sent an informant after him. When we were convinced that he had a gun and a gang, we asked him to come with his gang and join us for a robbery operation in Ikorodu. We got his phone number and then convinced him that we were a big time armed robbery gang in Lagos.
“He even volunteered to help us get some people who have AK-47 in Sagamu. Later, when he couldn’t get them on time, we asked him to bring the one he has and let us go for the operation. He came with the locally made gun to join us, without knowing that it was policemen he was discussing with all the while. That was how he was arrested,” the police source explained.
Adebayo reportedly travelled to Lagos with the gun inside the disc player without any problems. The suspect, the police gathered, had been to prison before. Yet, after his release, he conveniently went back to crime. “He had been to prison before for armed robbery and conspiracy. So, he is a habitual criminal. He has made a useful statement which can lead to the arrest of so many people.”
Meanwhile, speaking with Sunday Sun, Adebayo who said he worked as a ticketer for a motorcycle riders union in Ogun State claimed that the gun was part of his tools as a politician. “I am a politician; a member of APC (All Progressives Congress). We normally use the gun during election. One of my ogas in Ifo, a member of OPC (Odua People’s Congress) in Ifo gave it to me. I explained to him that as a politician, I needed something like that. And he said no problem. That was how he gave it to me. I bought it from him for N10, 000.”
On how he gets cartridges for the gun, Adebayo swore that he never used cartridges with the gun. “It is not meant to be used in shooting. We only use it to scare people. (Ma pa e, ekuro ni bi o). It is just for something like that. It is not like we want to kill anybody. That is usually during election. I don’t have even a single cartridge.” The suspect, who admitted that he has been to prison for conspiracy and armed robbery in 2012; however insisted that he did not go back to crime. “It is only God that knows my mind. I did not do anything. I am not using the gun for anything.”
The police source assured that the case would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.
Source: Sun