6 years ago, SARS operatives ‘helped’ self-confessed Lagos armed robber escape detention

• Adeniyi Ajayi aka Ogologo was arrested by the police for armed robbery and multiple cases of rape.

• He was reportedly set free by operatives of the defunct-Special Anti-Robbery Squad in a bid to intentionally increase crime rate in Lagos State.

• The Lagos State police claimed they rearrested Ogologo in October 2025.

Six years ago was a chaotic time globally but even double trouble for Nigeria.

Apart from the pandemic that put the whole world at a standstill, many young Nigerians lost their lives after being shot with live bullets by members of the Nigerian military at the Lekki Toll Gate while protesting against the brutality of the Nigerian police.

The momentum of the protest began to die out after that spine-chilling experience. The ripple effect of the pains of the past has yet to heal, as families of victims have yet to get justice, and of course, even though the Special Anti-Robbery Squad was disbanded, police abuse is still very rife.

After the #EndSARS protests and the disbandment of SARS, more than 100 suspects escaped from the former SARS facility in Ikeja, Lagos State. Notorious robber and rapist, Adeniyi Ajayi, also known as Ogologo, was one of the escapees.

A source at the command headquarters told The Punch Newspaper in December 2020 that shortly after Ogologo’s arrest by an operative of the defunct SARS, he was arraigned and remanded by the court but was later returned to the SARS office at Ikeja.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the source said, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) could not take in fresh inmates at the time, hence his return to the SARS facility despite the court order for his remand.

Ogologo, 27-year-old at the time, had been earlier paraded by Hakeem Odumosu, the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police, at the command headquarters for raping women up to eight women when he went for robberies at different parts of the state.

READ NEXT: After 7 days in kidnappers' den, 20 prospective corps members abducted on their way to NYSC camp finally regain their freedom

The suspect himself confessed to raping three women. He added, during the parade, that he would prefer to be killed than go to prison.

“I prefer to be killed than to go to prison. I have been imprisoned before, but when I came out, I had no job and that was why I went back to robbing people. I have only raped three victims, and it was when their husbands and bosses refused to cooperate with me that I raped their wives and maids in their presence,” Ogologo confessed.

A clip from his confession from six years ago was posted on Monday on X by microblogger Oyindamola posting @dammiedammie35.

“He was not arraigned for rape, but robbery. Because of COVID-19, he was remanded in police custody and that was where he escaped along with other suspects during a jailbreak. They almost killed one of the officers while escaping,” PUNCH’s source added. 

READ NEXT: 9 Nigerian games you can play right now if you’re bored, from Lagos Life to Boju Boju

A police source who spoke to Sahara Reporters further revealed that some police officers were involved in Ogologo’s release to spike the crime rate in the state as a form saying the government made a mistake by disbanding SARS.

"About 100 of them were released by some senior police officers immediately the IGP announced the disbandment of SARS. We have arrested two operatives; one of them confessed they did it to increase the rate of crime in Lagos which they intended to link to the disbandment of SARS,” the source said.

"So far, we have arrested about 20 of the suspects; some of them couldn't jump the fence when they were told to run away. Others were arrested while committing another offence." 

READ ALSO: The story of the rise and fall of Ishola Oyenusi, the notorious armed robber who terrorised the streets of Lagos in the 1970s

In December December 22, 2020, Sahara Reporters said it gathered that Ajayi already robbed two families and raped a lady after he escaped from custody. 

The question mark over his whereabouts continued until October 2025 when the Lagos police force claimed they arrested him with other armed robbers.

“On Friday, 3rd October, 2025, at about 1000 hrs, police detectives attached to the Lagos State Task Force on duty along Empire Junction by Jibowu inward Ikorodu Road sighted four young men suspected to be armed robbers. On sighting the officers, three of the suspects escaped, while one, identified as Toheeb Adeboye, male, 21 years old, was intercepted and arrested,” the post read.

“A search on him led to the recovery of one locally made single-barrel cut-to-size gun, one English Barreter  pistol with two 9mm live ammunition and one locally made pistol with ten live cartridges, all concealed inside a bag.”

“During interrogation, the suspect confessed that the gang had just concluded a robbery operation at Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State and were on their way to New Supreme Hotel, Akala, Mushin, their regular hideout after operations.”

“Acting on this intelligence, operatives raided the hotel, recovered incriminating exhibits including a laptop, charms, substances suspected to be Indian hemp and hard drugs, and arrested one of the fleeing gang members, Ajayi Adeniyi, male, 33 years, who was found with a locally fabricated pistol. The said hotel hideout has since been cordoned off permanently.”

By Akinjide Adebowale