21 October, 2012

I didn’t know my clients were armed robbers —Herbalist • No he’s one of them —Police


A 31-year-old suspected member of a car-snatching and armed robbery syndicate, Lasunkanmi Alagbe, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Oyo  in connection with a case which had been under investigations for a couple of months. Alagbe was alleged to have enriched himself with the proceeds of robbery operations he was involved in, so much that he built a house for his mother and got vehicles from the gang as his own loot.
Parading the suspect among others on Thursday October 4 at the headquarters of the Oyo State Police Command at Eleyele, Ibadan, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, told journalists that Alagbe had been on the run since he got information that a member of his gang had been arrested. He added that he was arrested on Sunday September 23 by SARS operatives in Ogbomoso at about 11p.m.
The police commissioner stated further that the suspect was named by his gang member, who was arrested in July, as the herbalist whom the gang depended on for success in their operations, as well as being a member who had benefited a lot from the loot of the gang. The gang member had also told the police that Alagbe started following the gang to make more money for himself. Among his benefits as a gang member were a Toyota Camry car, a Golf 3 car and a large sum of money.
A police source told Crime Features that the first suspected gang member was arrested by SARS operatives in July when they got a tip-off that some people were sighted with guns in an uncompleted building in Ogbomoso. Though others ran away, three AK 47 rifles and two locally-made guns were recovered from him. The suspect was said to have confessed that the gang used to snatch cars which were usually taken to Cotonou in Benin Republic for sale. The proceeds, he was reported to have said, were usually shared among the gang members or used to buy  other vehicles and brought back to Nigeria.
The source also revealed that the suspect also confessed that his gang once hit a jackpot when they robbed a man who came into Nigeria from overseas. Not only was the man robbed, he was also killed, after which the gang took his foreign currency and shared among themselves. Each of them was said to have got $10,000 dollars each.
While the suspect confessed that some of them used the money to buy different types of vehicles, he used his own to do an elaborate wedding and to buy a Toyota Camry car. He was said to have added that their operations extended beyond Oyo and Ogbomoso to neighbouring states.
However, Alagbe, who said he was an herbalist, denied being a gang member, saying that two of the gang members mentioned were his clients who usually came for divination as well as charms to boost their businesses, unknown to him that they were involved in shady deals.
Alagbe, who said he was married with two children narrated his side of the story thus: “I am a herbalist. I inherited the work from my father who died in 1989. Two men came to me in January this year. One is called Sunday Felix, though he answers Kunle. He called himself a dealer. The second one is called Adebisi Adesina. He told me he was into exportation of plantain to South Africa.
“They asked me to make charms for them so that their businesses would prosper the more. I did the job and collected N30,000.  About one and half months later, the two of them came back and said they saw the positive result of the job I did for them and that they were back to show their appreciation. They geve me a gift Golf 3 car.
“I saw that the papers were genuine with the Customs papers. Kunle, the guy who called himself a dealer also showed me the papers of his dealership. Before they left, Kunle asked me for a charmed soap that he could be using to wash the vehicles he was selling so that they would be bought quickly. I did that for him and he gave me N10,000.
“The second man told me he was an exporter who used to take plantain to South Africa. He asked for what could be done to make the business move faster, I told him not to worry, that what I did would work for him.
“In April, they came back, but before then, I had sold the Golf car because I did not want people to raise eyebrow on how a young man like me could have such a car. I told them when they came and asked for the car. Kunle gave me another car, a Toyota Camry. His friend also told me that he had an accidented Toyota Sienna bus, asking me to look for a mechanic and driver.
“I found a mechanic for him and the vehicle was repaired. After then, he said he could no longer use it, asking me to assist him in disposing of it.  I saw that the papers of the vehicle were complete and genuine. I sold the car for N450,000 and he gave me N200,000 out of it and I sent N250,000 to his account.
“The dealer said he had some vehicles he brought in from Cotonou. He came to me in May and said he needed charms that would make people come and purchase the vehicles quickly. I gave him one to bury in the ground of his auto shop in Abuja. He gave me N30,000.
“Between June and July, a prophet was brought to me by the exporter who told me that the prophet wanted to establish a church and needed some charms to make the church a success. I did it for him. In July, I travelled to Seme but learnt that the prophet had been arrested and that he brought police to my house. My wife was initially arrested so I called my lawyer to help me solve the problem.
“It was from my lawyer that I learnt that the dealer and the exporter were robbers and were wanted by the police. He told me that the prophet told the police that I was their herbalist. I never knew they were armed robbers.”
However, Crime Features  learnt that Alagbe allegedly built a house for his mother from the proceeds of criminal activities while he also got a Golf car, a Camry and a Toyota Sienna. It was learnt that the name on the particulars of the Sienna bus was that of a female. Police sources informed Crime Features that the name belonged to one of the gang members but the title ‘Mrs’ was added to it to make it look as if it is owned by a female. The first name of the gang member is a unisex name, it was said.
Other members of the gang were said to be at large.

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