Landlord Arrested For Leading Robbery Gang Terrorising His Community

A 32-year-old man, Sunday Ajewole, who passed as a harmless landlord in the Ayobo area of Ipaja, Lagos State, has been busted as a dreaded armed robbery gang leader who led his band of bandits to wreck havoc on innocent residents under the cover of darkness.

For 7 years, this man hid his identity carefully from his neighbours; they did not know he was a hardened criminal.

It was gathered that Ajewole had successfully fooled everyone, including his wife and children for seven years while he coordinated the robberies in the area and other parts of the state until operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), of the State Police Command stormed the area and arrested him after many of his boys who were arrested fingered him as the leader of the gang after they had been on his trail for many months.

The police investigations showed that the gang operates mostly at weekends and include those carried out on members of the public and some bank robberies. A neighbour of the Ajewoles who could not hide his shock, narrated thus:

"He fits in quite well and got along quite well with people in the area. He never gave any indication that anything was amiss at home. I guess he has trained to make friends and do nothing that would cast any suspicions on himself.

They were about the best neighbours we ever had. They never had any complaint.”

According to the police, searches conducted at Ajewole's house revealed three high-powered guns and semi-automatic pistols.

In his confession to the police, the suspect said:

“It was one of my friends, called Omolaja, who brought the guns to me. I am also a cultist of Aiye in the area. He said we should use it for land negotiators’ work. I am the third in command in the cult.

I kept the gun in an uncompleted building beside my house. We are 15 members in the cult group. I joined the cult about four years ago. My wife does not know I am a cultist.

I joined the robbery gang about the same time after a friend, Tunde, introduced me to them. We have robbed house in my area, banks and snatched many cars in Lagos and other places.

My gang was also the one that robbed a Bureau de Change in Ayobo area."