We Love Robbing Okada Riders- Prince

  A prince of Ishawo in Ikorodu, Lagos, Oladimeji Orisan, and three others are cooling off in the  cells of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, Lagos State, for allegedly terrorising and robbing residents, commuters and commercial cyclists, popularly known as Okada riders. Orisan, a.k.a Deji Baale, 24;  Emmanuel Olutoye, aka Ja-rule, 20; Lukmon Tiamyu, 27; and Wasiu Sikiru, 21; were alleged to have specialised in robbing commercial motorcyclists at gun point, using two methods. One of the methods, it was learnt, was that two of the suspects would board a bike at a bus stop to a destination carrying loafs of bread and sachets of water, pretending to be going to a
construction site.  The moment they enter the bush, they would attack the motorcyclist and snatch his bike and other valuables. The second method was to ambush unsuspecting commercial bike operators at the bus stop and snatch their motorcycles. Sunday Vanguard learned that  Olutaye  was arrested during an operation while the three other suspects escaped, abandoning their gun. The operation was reportedly carried out in Ijede, along Sagamu Road, Ikorodu. A security source familiar with the story alleged that the suspects, in the course of robbing  a commercial motorcyclist, the prince, who is  also the suspected leader of the gang,  Orisan, shot into the air to scare the victim who was resisting. The sound of the gun shot reportedly caught the attention of people around who rescued the victim. In the ensuing melee, Olutoye was caught and handed over to the police. During preliminary investigations,  the suspect  allegedly confessed that he had participated in several robbery operations.  His arrest led to the arrest of the three suspected gang members Another gun was alleged to have been recovered from Orisan, said to have been on the wanted list of the police. Olutoye, in his purported confession to the police, said: “I am from Ogun State; my father is late while my mother, who lives at Ikorodu, is very old. ‘’I dropped out of school in JSS2. I became a member of Eiye Confraternity while in JSS1 in Community Comprehensive College, Ishawo, Ikorodu. I was a barber apprentice before I met Wasiu who  introduced me to Deji Baale, the leader of the gang, in February last year. ‘’Meanwhile I was already stealing phones before they introduced me into robbery. I have participated in about three successful operations. ‘’From the three operations, we snatched three bikes and sold them for N50, 000, N70, 000 and N70, 000 respectively. ‘’We sold  the stolen bikes to one Alhaji Garuba in Ogoloto, who was buying and reselling them. I was arrested at Gberegbe bus stop at about 10pm during a failed operation.’' Orisan, the prince, also told his story to the police as follows: “I am  the second son of Baale of Ishawo community in Ikorodu. I was arrested because of armed robbery. I dropped out of school in JSS2. Later my parents enrolled me in a  technical college in Ilara-Akara,Ogun State. I became a cultist while I was a student at the technical college. I learnt how to snatch motorbikes from co-cultists. I went into robbery deliberately and not because my parents weren’t providing for me. I bought  a locally made gun N25, 000 from a fellow cultist. I have snatched over 30 motorbikes. We use the gun to scare the victims into submission. “I have a joint where I sell India hemp. I served a two-year-jail term at Kirikiri medium prison for robbery in 2011-2013. I have stolen quite a number of bikes. I was the one who introduced the receiver, Alhaji Garuba, who was buying  the stolen motorbikes, to the gang”  Sikiru also confessed to being  a member of the gang. “I also have sub gang whose members are currently at large. I am a generator repairer. I went to Deji Baale for financial help when he asked me to join the group”, he said.