The Lagos State Police Command has arrested three suspects in connection with the murder of the Personal Assistant to Senator Olamilekan Yayi, Sanni Adenyi.
Adeniyi was killed recently by suspected robbers who shot him dead and dropped his body along Lagos – Ijebu Ode Road, Ogun State, after they snatched his car from him.
The suspects, who were paraded yesterday by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, narrated how they killed the man in a most horrific manner.
The suspects said they were on mission to snatch his vehicle, but they shot him when he started to argue with them.
According to them, they later regretted killing the man, and were angry when they read in the news about the identity of the man they killed.
One of the suspects, Fred Azeez Okunnu, 43, said: “We are armed robbers. We specialize in snatching vehicles without number plates, especially used cars. We were working for a Nigerian based in the Republic of Benin. We didn’t know him, but we were introduced to him by a man in Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre. I met two of my members, Lucky Idudu Michael, 33, and Adedigba Segun, 26. There are some people who study diehard criminals in the prisons, especially when you have been to the prisons more than twice. So, as we were leaving the prisons, we were given the phone number of a guy, who introduced us to our master, Alhaji.
“Alhaji briefed us that our duty was to snatch unregistered vehicles. We would snatch unregistered vehicles, which we would take to Kwara State, from where the Alhaji would send someone, who would take them to the Republic of Benin, where he would sell them to innocent people. He gave us three pistols to defend ourselves. Lucky would dress in full military uniform, armed with a torch light. We would mount emergency road blocks, and station someone, who would be on the lookout for unregistered vehicles, and quickly notify us. Once lucky flashed the torchlight on the driver, he would think that we are real soldiers and the driver would stop. We would now demand for the vehicle papers, which we would collect; order the driver inside the car and zoom off with him. We would drive him to a certain place, where we would drop him off and leave.
“It was the same operation that we were carrying out, when we saw the gentleman that we later came to know as the PA to Yayi. We flashed him down and when he alighted from the vehicle, he started making calls. He was talking to his wife, when I thought that he was done, I said he should give me his vehicle papers, but he started arguing with me, asking me what else I wanted. He wanted to run shouting that we were thieves and I shot him. As I shot him, Lucky also fired at him. We now forced him into the car and while we were driving off, he was shouting that people should help him. So, Segun (Omo Ibadan) stabbed him in the chest and finished him off. We were not happy that he killed the man. We even had altercations with him in the car. We later dropped his body on the road in Ijebu Ode and kept his ID card on his chest, so that people would use it to contact his family. We took the vehicle to Kwara State, where the car was washed thoroughly before we handed it over to Alhaji. He promised to give us N3 million. He instructed us to snatch more cars. I swear, nobody sent us to kill him, and it was not our intention to kill him. We only wanted to snatch his vehicle from him, but his behaviour cost him his life.”
CP Owohunwa, who expressed worries about the way the judiciary and human rights activists are recycling hardened criminals, said that something drastic must be done about the way they release inmates who come out more formidable.
The three suspects arrested for Adeniyi’s murder on August 5, 2023, are jail birds, who met in the prisons. They formed their gang in the prisons and they were linked to their criminal head in the Republic of Benin while in the prisons. You can see that our correctional centres are breeding more hardened criminals. One of the suspects was released by human rights activists and a few months after his release, he went back to the same offence of armed robbery.
A total of three firearms, six live cartridges, six expended ammunition, six live ammunition, and military gear (military camouflage vest, military jungle hat, military holster, jungle boots), and one red Honda CRV with registration number – EKY 276 JD, also hijacked from a yet to be identified victim, were recovered from them.
“Further investigation has revealed that the said Alhaji has other cells operating across the country. Being a transnational crime, the Command is involving the Interpol for the apprehension of this criminal receiver and financier.
“The place of drugs in all of this must not be omitted as the criminals were high on drugs each time they went out for an operation. It is also noteworthy that the judicial system has not helped as all of these suspects have been arrested before for similar crimes and were arraigned. It is sad to find them again free but more hardened. With each freedom they get after prison, they become deadlier and more brutal, in addition to expanding their criminal network.”
