Ondo teenage armed robbers nicknamed Anini and Oyenusi arrested

Three juvenile robbers, who adopted the names of notorious Nigerian armed robbers in the country, Anini and Oyenusi, have been arrested and paraded in Akure, Ondo State.

The teenage suspects are -Timilehin (12), and Sunday. The other suspect in their ring is a 20-year-old Odeyemi Ayodele.

While Timilehin and Sunday nicknamed themselves as Oyenusi and Anini respectively, Ayodele is also known as Osunbor.

This writer understands that while Oyenusi was the first armed robber to be publicly executed in the country, Anini and Osunbor were members of a gang that terrorised the country, especially the old Bendel State (now Edo and Delta) between 1984 and 1986.

16-year-old Sunday, who led the robbery ring before their arrest, claimed he was named Oyenusi by people in his neighbourhood in Ijare, Ifedore local government area of Ondo, after they discovered his prowess in robbery.

According to him, it was one Odeyemi Ayodele, who claimed to be a farmer, that armed him. Paraded alongside his mother Iyabo Femi, Timilehin, who’s also known as Anini, claimed that it was Ayodele that usually fortified him and his gang with charms so that they won’t be arrested.

Ayodele, who claimed to be a farmer, admitted that he only released the dane gun to the boys and not the double barrel rifle they were caught with. He confessed to always collecting N2,000 per every outing by the teenagers whenever they returned from an operation.

Parading the suspects, the Commander of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeyeye said while the security agency would seek consultation on what to do about them, it would charge their mothers to court for aiding them.