He desperately
needed money to buy the necessary items for the marriage rites and also pay the
lady’s dowry. He joined a pipeline vandalism gang. Before December 2015, the
gang had killed some policemen, officials of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps (NSCDC) and caused several horrific explosions in Arepo, an Ogun State
community bordering Lagos. That is the story of Idowu Sobijoh,23, who is desperate
to his family and the young lady he impregnated.
They also killed
in cold blood, between nine and 12 officials of the Department of State
Services (DSS) at Ikorodu, Lagos State, and buried them in shallow graves. On
July 22, 2015, scores of suspected oil pipeline vandals and others died
following explosion that erupted while they were scooping fuel from a
vandalised pipeline. According to eyewitnesses, no fewer than 50 died during
the incident.
Reliving the
horror of that day, Sobijoh, an alleged notorious pipeline vandal, said that
the NNPC, national dailies and even law enforcement officers got it wrong,
saying those killed that day were over 370. He said that his cousin, Ayo, who
initiated him into the crime, died in the explosion.
He added: “I
would have died that day too, but I refused to go with Ayo because I was very
tired. We carried the corpses of our people and buried them in three large
graves. We counted over 370 corpses. I also saw my brother’s corpse because he
wasn’t burnt completely.
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| POLICE DETECTIVE & A SUSPECT |
“He and many
others tried to scoop fuel from a vandalised pipeline, but were trapped by the
mud. The incident was so tragic that I contemplated quitting. But I couldn’t
because I had no other job. A few weeks after that, I witnessed how the gang
killed nine officials of the DSS. I don’t know the reason they killed those
agents. It was Igbala, a member, that first opened fire on all of them.
After that
killing, I knew there would be trouble. I packed my things and left for
Ijegemo. Ijegemo is at the Isheri- Oshun area of Lagos. At Ijegemo, I teamed up
with Bright, who is a boy to TK, the commander.”
Incidentally,
Sobijoh’s group was part of those that had been killing law enforcement agents
at different pipeline locations in Lagos and Ogun States and disappearing with
their corpses. They were also behind bank robberies at Lekki, Ikorodu, Festac
and Agbara.
The gang come
through waterways to carry out its nefarious activities. Members are known for
using military uniforms and blasting banks’ doors with dynamites during
operations.
Since the
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT),
led by Mr. Abba Kyari, a Chief Superintendent of Police, took over the
investigations of the incessant bank robberies and pipeline vandalisms in Lagos
and Ogun states, members of the gang are now being picked by the team.
The detectives at
different times risked going to the creeks to arrest some of the suspects. This
week, SIRT team arrested eight suspects, including a serving lance corporal of
the Nigerian Army, for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to the bank
robbers and vandals. Apart from the arrest of the arms suppliers, SIRT also
arrested seven members of the robbery gang.
 |
| POLICE DETECTIVES |
At present,
another four suspects have been arrested for attempting to rob a Union Bank
branch in Ondo State. Sobijoh is one of those arrested. Others are Ebibo Winoh
(23) Michael Mipera (22) and Thankgod Sugha (24).
The four suspects
met their waterloo after they broke into a branch of Union Bank, in Ilutuntu
area of Ondo State. Although they gained access into the bank with the alleged
connivance of one of the bank’s ex-security guards, Sunny Bobo, they were
however shocked when they discovered that the bank’s vault was empty.
A police source
said: “The Union Bank guard was fired last year by the bank. He approached one
of the gang members called Michael Mipera, a native of Ondo State, and told him
about the plan to rob the bank.
He told Mipera
there was usually light security at night. Mipera, after conducting his own
survey around the bank, invited two of his friends, Sugha and Winoh. He
rented an apartment for them. He also invited six militants based at a camp in
Ijegemo-Isheri Oshun, Lagos State, headed by one TK, a notorious pipeline
vandal and bank robber.
“The hoodlums
from Lagos was led by Bright. Bright’s gang supplied the crew with two Ak 47
rifles and additional expertise on how to break into bank. They attacked the
bank on December 24, 2015, a day before Christmas, but didn’t find money in the
bank’s vault.” Police source said that a motorcycle operator, who ran errands
for one of the suspects, was the first to be arrested.
He was later used
as bait to catch the four suspects, including one of the militants from Lagos.
Winoh and Sugha confessed that Mipera invited them for the job. Sobijoh, who
has been singing like a bird, said that the recent disruption of vandalism
operations in Ijegemo by some soldiers made him to venture into bank robbery.
His words: “I have never been involved in any bank robbery before.
The Union Bank
robbery was my first attempt. It wasn’t even my intention. It was some soldiers
who stopped our pipeline vandalism operations at Ijegemo that made me decide to
take part in that bank robbery.
The soldiers
asked us to pay N5million before we would be allowed to resume our pipeline
vandalism. We offered them N3million, but they refused. We were broke when
Bright got a call from Mipera about the Ilututu bank robbery. “I didn’t get to
Ilututu on time because I hadn’t enough money.
When I got to
Ondo State, I was informed that the bank robbery was successful, but that they
didn’t get any money. I was arrested on my way back to my village in Ajapa.”
Further recounting how he became a pipeline vandal, Sobijoh said that Ayo
introduced him to vandalism when he needed money to pay for his wife’s dowry.
He stated: “After I impregnated my wife, her family insisted I must pay her dowry
before taking her as a wife.
I was very broke;
my cousin Ayo, who was into pipeline vandalism at Arepo in Ikorodu, asked me to
join him. He said that I should stop being lazy. I followed him to Lagos. When
we got to Ikorodu, I joined the Fatola camp; I was introduced to the commander,
Ossy. I was given a gun to carry, but I declined. I told them I had never used
a gun before. They asked me to leave the camp and I did. I was staying in
Ishawo, but at night Ayo would call me.
We would move
into the creek with our jerry cans to siphon fuel from the pipelines.” The
suspect said that after working for two weeks, he was able to raise enough
money for his wife’s dowry. He returned home and performed the marriage rite.
Just days after his traditional marriage, he returned to camp and discovered
that Ayo had bought additional 100 jerry cans for fuel. Recalling the night Ayo
died, Sobijoh said: “On that fateful night, Ayo woke me.
 |
| SOBIJOH |
He said I should
follow him to the line where we used to siphon fuel, but I refused. To tell you
the truth, I was very tired. I told him to leave me alone to have some rest.
Around 2am, I heard a large explosion. When I looked out, I saw massive fire at
the spot where they were siphoning fuel. We couldn’t go close to the
place until the NNPC officials came and put out the fire.”
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