A notorious suspected female bank robber, Bashirat, has been arrested by Police operatives attached to the Inspector-General Of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
Area Mama’s gang has been terrorizing banks in the Southwest, especially Lagos before nemesis caught up with her and another kingpin, Adetunji.
Adetunji and Bashir had been on the wanted list of the police for over a period of time before they were arrested by IRT.
It was gathered that Adetunji, who is also alleged member of Eyie Confraternity, ran into trouble recently when he led some members of his gang to attack a middle-aged woman, a salesgirl, on her way to the bank at Opebi area Ikeja and dispossessed her of her money and cell phone.
Adetunji was then arrested a few days later, when the woman, whose identity wasn’t disclosed, sighted him on Toyin Street Ikeja, while he was planning to rob an unsuspecting passerby and she raised an alarm which alerted operatives of the IRT who raced to the scene and apprehended Adetunji.
He was said to have confessed during interrogation at the IRT, that members of his gang normally carry out their operation which includes armed robbery and cult-related killings within Lagos State and added that the guns were normally kept at Isolo area of the state.
Police sources disclosed that in an effort to recover Adetunji’s operational rifle and pistol, he led them to a market in Jakande Low Cost Housing Estate in Isolo area of the state, where Area Mama was arrested and she told the operatives during interrogation that the guns were no longer in her possession as she had given them to another senior member of the gang known as Junior a.k.a Jungle.
The source added that when Area Mama was asked to take the operatives to Jungle’s house, so they could arrest him and recover the guns, she misled them and took them to a wrong location, where she also attempted to escape. She was said to have run into a ditch in the process and she sustained serious injuries which made the operatives to stop their search for jungle and she was taken to the hospital.
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Adetunji confessed that he was a member of the gang and he explained that he normally hired guns from Area Mama “I am a member of the Eyie confraternity and I joined while I was at the university in Ogun State, but when I dropped out I came back home to join members of my cult group in Jakanda estate and I discovered that they had already procured an Ak-47 rifle and a revolver pistol”.
They told me that they bought the guns from a soldier and they usually kept the guns at Area Mama’s shop, who is also a member of their cult group:” She normally hid the gun at the back of her shop where she sells pepper and tomatoes.
She would cover the bag of the guns with basket and sacks. We have used guns in several operations and we use to rent guns N5, 000 after every operation. But the main job we did with the guns is to fight our opponent who is revival cult members”.
But Area Mama in her own statement confessed that Adetunji and Jungle forced her to keep the guns for the group because she was a member of their group and she also took oaths to keep their secrets.
“I took an oath when I joined the group, but I didn’t know that they would assign the duty of keeping their guns to me. I tried to protest against keeping the gun for them but they threatened to kill me if I don’t keep the guns for them. Because of the oath we took I, could not tell anyone that I was keeping guns for the group.
They use to come for it whenever they have an operation but I don’t know what they use to do with the guns and after each operation, they will give me N5000, but a few months ago, Jungle came and collected the guns and he is yet to return it back to me. I have tried taking the police to his house but we didn’t find him in the house.” She stated.
