Fifty eight years after Nigeria gained independence from colonial rule, the country is still reeling in crime and criminality with the wave permanently on the upward.
Incessant armed robbery activities, violence, terrorism, rape, murder even in the most sacred places, corruption involving notable personalities, prostitution and other vices have taken over the country’s social terrain.
In actual fact, the country in the past 58 years have had her own fair share of recurring crime activities in different forms and circumstances.
Armed robbery
Notorious armed robbery kingpins like Ishola Oyenusi, popularly called Dr. Oyenusi; Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini aka The Law; Shina Rambo; Okwudili Ndiwe aka Derico Nwamama; Monday Osunbor, Isiaka Busari aka Mighty Joe; Abiodun Egunjobi alias Godogodo; Kayode Williams and lately infamous Badoo Boys in Ikorodu, among others, ruled the underworld like a vampire with their daring exploits in crime.
After the Nigerian civil war ended in 1970, the notorious armed robber, Dr. Oyenusi, emerged on the nation’s crime scene, robbing banks, snatching cars , killing and maiming his victims.
Oyenusi, who added the prefix ‘Dr.’ to his surname, and his gang members were the dare- devil armed robbers, who shook the nation to its foundation with their daring operations.
For many then, the fear of Oyenusi was the beginning of wisdom. A mere mention of his name sent people scampering to safety.
After his arrest, the notorious armed robber confessed that his first operation was the snatching of a car, which he sold for N400, to enable him to give his girlfriend money. After selling the car, he fulfilled his promise to his girlfriend.
Oyenusi was arrested by a police constable, simply identified as Mr. Nwi, after his gang robbed a company of the sum of 28, 000 pounds. His gang members included Joel Amamieye, Stephen Ndubuokwu, Joe Osamedike, Ademola Adegbitan, Philip Ogbolumian and Ambrose Nwokobia.
So many people, including pastors, have been kidnapped across the country. One of the kidnap kingpin, popularly known as Evans, made a huge fortune from the illegal act. He built a mansion at the highbrow Magodo GRA estate in Lagos State
Oyenusi and his gang members were convicted by a court and at their public execution on September 8, 1971, at the Bar Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos, over 35 thousand people thronged the scene to watch how the inglorious reign of the notorious Oyenusi and his gang members was brought to an end.
In 1986, another notorious armed robber, Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini, aka The Law, and his gang became the terror, both during the day and night. They robbed several banks in Edo State and its environs. They snatched cars and killed people, including policemen.
Members of his gang included Henry Ekponwan, Friday Ofege, Monday Osunbor, Alhaji Zegezege and Iweka.
Apart from robbing banks and snatching cars, they also hijacked buses and robbed passengers along the Ore – Benin – Onitsha expressway.
After the police arrested two members of his gang, Anini began to target police personnel, many of whom he killed without pity. Within a period of three months, he killed nine police officers, robbed 12 banks and wasted the lives of innocent people.
The head of the then military junta, General Ibrahim Babangida, was so angry with the then Inspector General of Police, Mr. Etim Inyang, that he asked him, “My friend, where is Anini?” He was arrested with his gang members in 1986 and was executed at the Bar Beach in Lagos.
There was also the era of Shina Rambo, the fearless robbery kingpin, who would block the highways for hours, shooting sporadically and killing anyone on sight during his operations. Even policemen feared him. But luckily, the same police ended his reign of terror. He was also into cross- border robbery and banditry, snatching cars from Nigeria for sale in the Republic of Benin and other neighbouring countries.
Okwudili Ndigwe, aka Derico Nwamama, became the terror in the South East, especially in Onitsha and its environs.
Nwamama was said to have killed over 100 people, including 25 police officers.
But the local vigilance group, popularly called Bakassi Boys, arrested Nwamama and sent him to his early grave.
Lately, the Badoo Boys cult of Ikorodu became the hydra-headed problem in the Lagos community. The gang was so brutal in their killings that they would rape little girls, their mothers and in most cases, wipe out whole family members by smashing their head with boulders and stones.
The then Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Mr. Imohimi Edgal, led a team of policemen to Ikorodu to smoke out the Badoo gang members. That single effort earned Edgal another promotion as he was elevated to the rank of a substantive Commissioner of Police and later made the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Lagos State Police Command, a position he holds till date.
Rape
There has been a rise in the activities of shameless men and women, who take delight in defiling minors, using either threats that they would kill the child or luring them with some money or gifts. The Managing Partner and Founder of Mirabel Centre, situated at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Mrs. Itoro Eze- Anaba, released statistics recorded by the centre to this correspondent, saying within five years 3, 819 cases of rape, defilement and sexual assault were recorded.
Eze-Anaba said out of these cases, 87 were male victims while 54 were with disabilities. It’s a shame of a nation that even some heartless fathers could not control their libido as they would also engage in sex with their own children.
A 60 -year- old man, Ashiru Amusat, was paraded by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal, for allegedly defiling his 12-year-old child, Bolu.
The child claimed that her father did it several times with her and could not stop; so she decided not to sleep in his apartment again.
In a similar development, 45-year-old Olawale Ibitoye also defiled his own daughter.
Ibitoye knew that one day the secret would leak to the public; so he decided to give his daughter out in marriage to his friend, Okurukpe Okorope. His daughter was pregnant but could not deliver the baby and when they went to a traditional maternity home, the child had to confess that her father had been making love to her before giving her out for marriage. The minor is a secondary school dropout.
Kidnap
So many people have fallen victims of kidnap gangs. The mother of the former minister of finance, Okonjo Iweala, was kidnapped and the family had to pay some ransom before she was released.
So many people, including pastors, have been kidnapped across the country. One of the kidnap kingpin, popularly known as Evans, made a huge fortune from the illegal act. He built a mansion at the highbrow Magodo GRA estate in Lagos State. He also has a house in faraway Ghana. The Special Anti- Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command arrested him and his gang members.
Prince Desmond Akonofua, a former head of the Edo State Waste Management Board, was kidnapped and his abductors demanded N10M ransom from his family.
Because of his kidnappers’ threats, his church had to intervene by paying N5million ransom before he was set
free.
Recently a Muslim cleric, Muhammed Bello, cried out over the abduction of his four-year-old son, Kazim, who was lured with a bottle of fruit juice drink and biscuit.
The victim, Kazim, 4, was said to have been playing with his friend, Yussuf, at Ugbenwankwo Street, Ajegunle, Lagos State, when the strange woman, who had gone into the backyard of the compound to survey the environment, came and promised to buy the two minors biscuits and the fruit juice if they could accompany her.
While Yussuf decided not to board the tricycle, his friend, Kazim, was lured with biscuit and fruit juice by the suspected female kidnapper.
Kazim boarded the tricycle with the strange woman and the driver immediately zoomed off with them. Till date, Bello is still searching for his son, calling the government to assist him.
Corruption
Privileged persons in public and elective offices have continued to milk the country dry. Corruption at high places has got to an alarming stage. No leader has been bold enough to tell Nigerians who and who own oil blocks in the
country.
