A five-man gang that specialised in carjacking in Ibadan, Oyo State, has been rounded up by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team.
It was learnt that the police recovered one Ak-47 together with a magazine containing 15 rounds of live ammunition belonging to a policeman allegedly killed by the gang, and two locally-made guns with three live cartridges.
It was gathered that the detectives acting on a tip-off apprehended the suspects – Gbenga Yinka aka Infinity, Prince Chinedu, John Chidiebere, Shawama Opkara and Anayo Victor – recently in Ibadan.
In an interview during the week, 36-year-old Yinka, who claimed to be a car dealer, said he formed the gang after some Customs officials in Akure, Ondo State, intercepted two cars he bought in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
He explained that the gang carjacked many expensive vehicles in Ibadan and sold them in Rivers State.
He stated, “I am a secondary school dropout and married with four children. I was based in Port Harcourt with my family. Sometime in May 2019, some Customs officials seized two cars which I bought from Cotonou. I became broke and frustrated after that incident. I met one of my gang members, Prince (Chinedu), in Bayelsa State and he suggested that we should go into carjacking.
“I told him that I can’t snatch cars in Port Harcourt because I am popular in the city, but I suggested that we should go to my hometown in Ibadan because I am not known around the town. Prince accepted my idea and he brought in four of his friends to form the gang. I bought two locally-made guns from one Baba Ayoka in the Sabo area of Ibadan for N70,000 and he gave me seven live cartridges.’’
Yinka said on their first operation, they accosted a man in a Lexus car along Akala Road and robbed him of the vehicle at gunpoint, adding that the man was held hostage by his gang members till he drove the car out of the state.
He added, “I left for Port Harcourt immediately with the car, and when I got to Osun State, I called my men and asked them to free the man. But few hours after the man was released, the car stopped moving and I abandoned it. I suspected it had a tracker.
“Few days later, we also robbed a man of a Toyota Venza and while I was taking the vehicle to Port Harcourt, it got tracked along Ore Road and I abandoned it. Since then, we decided to start snatching unregistered vehicles.”
The ringleader disclosed that in the next two operations, they hijacked a Mercedes Benz GLK and a 2005 Toyota Camry which he sold in Port Harcourt.
He said, “In our next operation, we sighted an unregistered vehicle at Ikolaba area of Ibadan and while we were trailing it, we saw a policeman sitting idly with his Ak-47 rifle and we decided to snatch the gun from him.
“Two of my gang members came down from our operational vehicle and approached the policeman. They shot him dead and took away his rifle. We left the vehicle we were trailing and returned to our hotel room. Few days later, we were arrested at Gate area of Ibadan, while we were scouting for vehicles to snatch.”
PUNCH