Lagos State Police Command Tuesday Oct 21, paraded robbery gang, which confessed to have killed a former Assistant Editor of the Newswatch newspapers, Mr. Toyin Obadina, in one of their operations. The four suspects: Adeshina Festus (21), Sunday Samuel (22), Ibrahim Adeokin and Babatunde Makinde were arrested while two others-identified simply as Oke and Benjamin- were killed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad during another operation.
The gang was arrested in its hideout in Ajelogo, Mile 12 on Thursday, October 17 following a tip-off. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to the police that they were responsible for the killing of the owner of a Toyota Salon car with number plate, AKD 701 CE. The gang confessed to have snatched the vehicle at the Lucky Fibre area, Ikorodu on Friday, February 1, and abandoned the corpse of the owner at about 1am.
The police thereafter discovered that the victim was Obadina, the Newswatch Assistant Editor.
The suspects said Oke, their gang leader, had shot the editor because he (Obadina) ‘struggled’ with the gang over his laptop. Festus, tells Punch:
“On that night, I drove one of the two SUVs. When the man was approaching, we blocked his vehicle at a bad portion of the Ikorodu Road. After he was forced to stop, our ring leaders in the other vehicle, Oke and Benjamin, went to meet him.
I and the others stayed back. As this went on, we noticed that an argument ensued between them, and Oke shot him. The editor probably felt only the two robbers were at the spot, and he was trying to defend himself.”
Samuel, 22, from Udu, Delta State, added that Oke wanted Obadina to part with his laptop, and a struggle had ensued.
“Oke our leader had carried the journalist’s laptop, and the man dragged the property with him. In annoyance, he shot him in the chest. I was part of the gang. I was inside the second vehicle. Oke and Benjamin were inside the Toyota Sienna that blocked the journalist’s vehicle.
After shooting the journalist, we immediately drove away. We were all furious with Oke for shooting him. But we were afraid so that he would not shoot us too because he was a violent man. He had shot Babatunde before. After two weeks, we went again to Mile 12 for another robbery, and it was in the process that the police caught us, and they killed Oke during that operation.”
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