20 year old boy took up robbery to pay graduation fees

yinka ogunlami

December 8, 2015 6:04 PM

Lanre Makinde, a 20-year old boy, said that he had turned to robbery to pay his graduation fees.

The four suspects of the robbery

Lanre Makinde, a 20-year old boy, said that he had turned to robbery to pay his graduation fees.

Makinde was one of the three persons, Sodiq Hassan, Sunday Oyeniran and Ahmed Kazeem who were arrested by the officials of the Rapid Response Squad on Saturday while they were forcibly snatching mobile phones and wallets from the victims during gridlock. It came to be known that the suspects had stolen two mobile phones and two wallets from their victims before they were caught by the police.

The 20-year old Makinde, a graduation student said that he was on drugs during the incident and was badly in need of money to pay for his graduation. He also added that he was involved in “only one operation” with the gang.

“I was not conscious of what I was doing. I knew the gang leaders as friends in the area, and agreed to go out with them. I was drunk on that evening. I actually needed money to pay for my graduation and to make ends meet.” Makinde said.

Oyeniran, the other suspect said that his role was only to keep the items stolen during the operation. He said he recently left the prison on November 14, 2015.

“I am an ex-convict. I was not the leader of the gang. Since I was released from the prison on November 14, I ensured that I severed my relationship with the gang. The gang leaders are Eegun and Yoppy. I know them as traffic robbers in Oshodi. I was only seen with the mobile phones stolen by the gang. I did not go to rob with them” he said.

Another suspect, Hassan, who claimed to be a school dropout, said he was working as a bus conductor before joining the gang. Another person named Awuwa fled with one phone before the police caught him.

One of the victims attacked by the gang said that he was descending the pedestrian bridge when one of the robbers snatched his mobile phone. The police had returned the recovered phone to him.

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