By Emma Nnadozie, Crime Editor

The announcement of a new Commissioner of Police for Lagos State, penultimate week, by the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, came as a surprise to many.  The resentment  that greeted the announcement should be attributed to the events that heralded the change of baton.

Prior to the announcement of Ajani- Fatai Owoseni, as the new police chief helmsman in Lagos, CP  Kayode Aderanti held sway amidst a seemingly rising wave of crime in the Centre  of Excellence.  However, the wave was being systematically doused by an unwavering commitment towards intelligence gathering and tenacity of purpose as was boldly demonstrated by the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, under the watchful eyes of Aderanti.

The crime bursting trend started  no sooner than Aderanti assumed duty in the state on September 9, 2014.  Then, armed robbery was taking a heavy toll in Lagos. Aderanti mandated the then officer in charge of SARS, Abbah Kyari, to go all out against the hoodlums and bring them to book.  Based on the marching order, detectives at SARS swung into action.  Through the deployment of cutting edge technology, intensive surveillance and aggressive patrol, five notorious armed robbery suspects that specialized in snatching and selling of cars were rounded up with the staggering recovery of  15 stolen vehicles.  The vehicles were recovered within the state and in different locations outside Lagos including Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Benin City. This feat kick-started several other breakthroughs within the period Aderanti presided over the police affairs in the state.

Barely a month later, another spectacular feat was recorded.  This was after information was received about some deadly trans border armed robbers in Iba, Festac and Igando areas of the state. On receiving the information, Aderanti held an all night long meeting with detectives at SARS before issuing directives on how to face the task ahead.

Bursting bank robbries

Thereafter, two SARS decoy teams stormed the hideout of the robbers at Victory Estate, Iba along LASU/Igando Road where two suspects were arrested.  Their confession led to the arrest of six others including their armourer and gang leader from whom exotic cars were recovered .  Rifles hidden in a specially constructed compartment underneath one of the cars were also recovered.  The suspects confessed to several operations  including a bank robbery in Port Novo, Benin Republic, a filling station and bureau de change robberies in Mali, attempted robbery at UBA at Shagamu Road, Ikorodu, Lagos, several robberies in Port-Harcourt, Kano and the biggest of it all, N100 million successful robbery in Alakija area of Lagos from which one of the kingpins built a mega mansion in Onicha LGA of Ebonyi State.

‘Senator Nwobodo’episode

In the same vein, the command recorded a breakthrough when it arrested a suspected international arms dealer in far away Onitsha, Anambra State,who allegedly confessed to have sold over 200 AK47 rifles smuggled from Mali to several criminals and militants in Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu and Lagos states.  Another  arrest was carried out after information filtered out about a gang that used EFCC uniforms to rob bureau de change operators in Abuja and Lagos states  of foreign currencies.  A massive manhunt was  launched and detectives arrested the alleged kingpin, one Princewill Eze, 55, alias Senator Nwobodo.

Interestingly, the suspected notorious leader of the gang lived in affluence at the high-brow VGC and owned a fleet of exotic cars.  His confessions led to the arrest of a female Lebanese and suspected member of the gang, Amira Abdallahi, 32, and others.  Several stolen vehicles were recovered but the shocking aspect of the recovery was that of N4m and $13m cash allegedly found on them.  The  suspected kingpin had somehow escaped arrest previously He either escaped or allegedly got security agents to compromise.

While these successes were being recorded, the dare-devils remained undaunted.  They intensified efforts at both armed robbery and kidnapping while the command spread its dragnets and, in most cases, succeeded in rounding them up.

Then, there was the biggest of the attacks that shook Lagos and environs.  A gang of armed robbers stormed two banks through the lagoon water front on Admiralty Way in the high brow Lekki area of Lagos on Thursday, March 12, 2015. They went inside the bank premises,  ransacking the vault, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and dispossessing several members of staff of their valuables.  After their movie-like operation, the bandits left in their trail five corpses,  three of which were policemen who, though on another assignment, engaged them.  Three civilians, including a 15-year-old girl selling fish in the area, were also mowed down.

Top level meeting

The robbers operated for over two hours without the intervention of the police at the nearby Maroko station.  Worse still, the bandits escaped through the same route at the lagoon and coasted leisurely back to base without confrontation from security agencies. While palpable fear gripped residents of the area and environs over the manner of the operation, most people were furious with the police.

That was when the crime fighting ability of Aderanti was glaringly put to test.  He rose to the challenge and kept on assuring that he would get the perpetrators of the heinous operation. He  summoned a meeting of all Commanders of the police combat units including  the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operation, Deputy Commissioner of Police State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti, Yaba, Rapid Response Squad, RRS, SARS, SIB, Marine and Police Mobile Force and impressed it upon them that the crime must not go unresolved  After more strategic meetings, they were able to get clues on the crime. Six decoy teams of SARS were dispatched to Delta, Ogun, Ondo States and Ikorodu in Lagos under the direct supervision of Aderanti.  The efforts paid off on March 20, 2015, eight days after the robbery attack when one Duke Odogbo, the suspected leader of the gang, was picked up in Warri, Delta State.  Another alleged key member of the gang, Ekelemo Kuete, 30, who was said to have driven one of the speed boats on the day of the robbery, was picked up in Majidun area of Ikorodu, Lagos State. Two more suspected members of the gang were arrested through diligent follow-ups.  All arrested suspects confessed to the crime and recoveries were made.

Revelations

The arrests assuaged the boiling anger of Lagosians.  The contempt the people had for the police on the heels of the Lekki robbery turned into praises for, especially, Aderanti, who personally commanded the operation.  It also elicited curiosity as  revelations from one of the suspects showed that the gang launched the attack from a settlement inside the creek close to where naval men, Customs and marine police have bases.  The revelations raised salient questions concerning the workability of the generally touted synergy between security agencies in the state.  In fact, it was as if the police  were just allowed to carry their cross when concerted efforts could have contributed  towards checkmating crime.

Brazen robbery and breakthrough

This scepticism raised its ugly head, few weeks after,  when another gang struck at Ijede in Ikorodu area of the state. They invaded the area also from the waterways and robbed two banks located at Ipakodo carting away huge sums of money.  The brazen manner of the operation and the fact that they, once again, escaped without hindrance triggered fresh anger amongst residents of the area and beyond.  For the second time, the ability of Aderanti to bring the bandits to book came to the front burner and tongues wagged over the alleged involvement of soldiers in the robbery.

As usual, the Commissioner of Police kept on assuring that he would make a break through.  He was on the verge of accomplishing the task when a shocker came.  He had been re-deployed to Force Headquarters, Abuja, while a successor was posted to Lagos. That notwithstanding,  Aderanti and his team from SARS worked all night and, at the end of the day, before handing over, rounded up four men suspected to have carried out the attack.  One of the alleged robbers was traced to Igbokoda, Ondo State where he was arrested.  Few days later, the suspected gang leader was  arrested.  Others were traced to their respective hideouts  and arrested with their loot.   Unfortunately, Aderanti could not stay longer to celebrate his victory in this particular crime-bursting episode.  He said that much when he declared  that he succeeded in cracking all major crimes committed during his stay in Lagos after his avowed commitment and  promise to do so.  From all indications, Aderanti’s magic should be seen as a litmus test for the new man in the saddle.