The Lagos police department, in southwestern Nigeria, has presented three male suspects linked to the murder of Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to Senator Solomon Adeola, known as Yayi. Sanni met his untimely demise on August 5 when he was intercepted by individuals at a checkpoint in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos while returning home.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Identified as Fred Azeez Okunnu, 43; Lucky Idudu Micheal, 33; and Adedigba Segun, 26, these suspects were paraded during a press briefing at the police command’s headquarters in Ikeja. The arrest of these individuals followed weeks of intense investigation.
Police Commissioner Idowu Owohunwa revealed the items recovered from the suspects, which included firearms, military gear, and a hijacked vehicle. The recovered items included one Brownie pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one Beretta pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one locally made cut-to-size pistol with six live cartridges, six expended cartridges, military attire (military camouflage vest, military jungle hat, military holster, jungle boots), and a red Honda CRV with registration number EKY 276 JD, which had been taken from an as-yet-unidentified victim.
The suspects provided their account of the incident, explaining that they shot and killed Sanni because he had raised the alarm while attempting to flee the robbery scene.
Fred, one of the suspects, recounted the events, stating, “On that fateful day, we were told a black Toyota Camry was coming. One of us, Lucky, who was putting on camouflage uniform then flagged the vehicle down, while I rushed towards the other side of the door and demanded the documents of the vehicle. When I was asking for the documents, he was on a call with someone, probably talking to his wife. After a while, he asked me what else I wanted again after giving me his car documents.”
Fred mentioned that Sanni likely sensed something was amiss and suddenly began shouting ‘Thief.’ In response, when Sanni exited the car and started running away, Fred fired two shots.
“That was when I shot him with the only two bullets I have in my gun,” he said. “While I was trying to go back, I heard another gunshot from Lucky that hit the man again. I and Segun moved him to the back of the seat of the car and zoomed off. By then, he was still breathing, and he was still shouting thief. It was then Segun stabbed him with a knife, and that led to an argument between us. We condemned him for stabbing him.”
Fred added that Segun justified the stabbing by claiming that Sanni’s noise was too loud for that hour of the night.
The police commissioner’s investigation revealed that the gang had been armed by an individual identified as Alhaji, based in Benin Republic, specializing in robbing motorists.
Owohunwa explained the gang’s modus operandi, which involved stationing a gang member near Berger bus stop to spot unregistered vehicles approaching or traveling on that route. This spotter would then communicate with gang members dressed in military camouflage stationed further ahead. The gang member in military uniform would signal for the vehicle to stop, using the pretense of checking vehicle papers to disarm the victims.
In Sanni’s case, he had initially believed that the individuals were genuine soldiers and called his wife to send his vehicle papers to him via WhatsApp. When he sensed danger and raised the alarm, the suspects opened fire, leading to his tragic demise.
After the incident, the suspects proceeded to wash the victim’s blood off the vehicle and eventually dumped his body by the roadside. They then fled the scene, driving the stolen vehicle to various locations before contacting their kingpin, Alhaji.
The suspects’ arrest sheds light on the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Senator Adeola Yayi’s aide and the criminal operation orchestrated by the gang responsible.
