Robbery Suspects: How We Invaded, Robbed Ikorodu, Lekki Banks

Ikorodu Robbery Suspects

Four members of the 18-man gang, who specialise in robbing banks across the Lagos metropolis, monday regaled all and sundry on how they had hatched and successfully robbed three banks within four months.

The gang had successfully robbed the Lekki branch of FCMB in February; First and Wema Banks on June 1, 2015 and Zenith and First Bank on June 23, 2015.

The suspects were identified as 39-year-old Monday Omoboye (a.k.a. Alarm Blow), 25-year-old Agbojule Bright, 37-year-old Monday Ikuesan and 20-year-old Promise Abiwa.

The police also recovered two Lexus and Infiniti SUVs with registration numbers KRD29DA, 642DQ and EKY641DB respectively.

In their confessions, the suspects who were paraded at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, said the gang was also responsible for the incessant pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in that area.

In an interview with THISDAY, the robbers said the successes they had achieved in all the operations they embarked on was based on planning and more planning.

According to them, after planning for each robbery in a strategic manner, they ensure all the requirements needed for its success were put in place, like their getaway vehicles and canoes as the case may be.

They also disclosed that for the Ikorodu operation, their gang leaders who were simply identified by them as Million and Kakadu, had provided them with eight guns and two pump action rifles. 

Although they debunked claims they have a female member in the gang, they however admitted that they have their hideout in the creeks, where they go to share their loots after each operation.

One of the suspects, Bright Agbojule said:  “We planned the operation from Ishawo creeks. It was Million and his men who came to us and told us about the operation.

“Million brought guys from Warri. It was from the creeks that we planned the whole thing and this is my first operation with them.

“I was among those who kept watch along the road. I was given a pump action gun. We had eight guns and two pump action rifles.
“I am a student of College of Education, Ekiadolor. I did not follow them to Lekki or any other robberies but I knew it was the gang that attacked those banks.

“We left very early for the Ikorodu operation and it was some of Million’s boys who went into the police station, I did not go with them.
“It was Million and Kakadu who brought the dynamite used to open the bank doors as well as the guns. They were the ones who also thought us how to use the guns.

“I do not know how much was gotten because it was the leaders who counted and shared the money.  My share was N2million from where I bought a Lexus  SUV for N1. 5million.

“I also bought jerrycan for my brother to start illegal oil bunkering; gave my wife N30,000 for her JAMB exam and also gave my friends money.”
On how he was arrested, he said: “I was arrested in Ikorodu, where I live. My friend Akpan called me and I didn’t know that it was because police was looking for me.”

Another suspect, Omoboye, a boat operator, in his confession said he usually ferries the gang for their operations through the waterways.

He disclosed that he had participated in all the robberies, adding that he received N400,000 for the Lekki robbery, N400,000 for Ijede and N2million for the Ogolonto attack, totalling N2.8million.

For each operation, he said the group usually lodge in close by areas to their targets, disclosing that for the Lekki attack, they camped in Epe.

He said: “We went to Epe area and lodged there. I was the boat operator and I drove them in all the operations.  I don’t usually leave the boat  and one or two men are left to stay with me because the gang will contact them and they will now alert me that its time to move.
“I was contacted about one month after the Lekki operation and informed of the Ijede attack, I got N400,000 each from Lekki and Ijede. But for Ebute business, I was given N2million.

“I was not the one they called on phone.  It was one of their men before we rode to the jetty side to carry them. My boat is a fibre boat. I usually take them to the creeks in Ishawo but they don’t allow us close to where they share money.

“Our business in the creek is illegal bunkering,  pipeline vandalism and armed robbery. That is what we do in Ishawo creeks. I took part in all the robberies because I was their boat operator.

“Yes I am married with five children but my wife does not know what I am into.”

Ikuesan, another boat operator, said his only role was ferrying the hoodlums after their boat broke down when they robbed the banks in Lekki.He claimed that he operated a gun boat as an employee, as so the owner contacted him to carry the armed robbers when their boat broke down in February during the Lekki robbery.

He said: “I am not a member of the group but I know I have carried them once. I was contacted by the owner of the gun boat to carry them because their boat broke down in the water.

“The owner was given N400,000 but he gave me N180,000 and Baba Ibeji added N10,000 for me, making N190,000. I have never followed them for any operation.”

The chain of arrests were initiated by personnel of the Nigerian Army, who on stop and search duty at Okitipupa area of Ondo State, had arrested one of the suspects. The outgoing state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, said the successes recorded was because the command had launched a massive manhunt for the armed robbers.

He said: “So, on June 26, 2015, one of the armed robbers named Promise Abiwa was traced to Igbokodo in Ondo State where he was arrested.

“On June 28, 2015, one of the key members of the gang named Monday Omoboye aka Alarm Blow was arrested in his hideout in Ikorodu.

“The said Monday is the boat operator who drove their speedboats in both the Lekki FCMB and Wema Bank robberies on June 1, 2015 and also the Zenith and First Bank robberies on June 24, 2015.

“On June 29, 2015, at about 4p.m, one Agbojule Bright was traced to another hideout and was arrested with the Lexus SUV, which he bought from his own share of the loot.

“These armed robbers have to confessed to various armed robbery attacks both on water and highways across the country. Further investigations geared towards arresting the remnants of the gang is in progress.”