Among the suspects, was the
General Overseer of The way of Joy church located in Egbe, a Lagos suburb. The
clerg , identified as Pastor Ibikunle
Olarewaju John (pictured top left), confessed to Crime Guard during the parade,
that he administered an oath of secrecy
on the gang members, on the day they attacked the Muritala Mohammed Airport.
Read more after the cut..............
Members of the gang discovered to have come all the way from Kwara, Osun, Ibadan and Ogun states,
during interrogation, confessed to have attacked same airport last year,where
they carted away N600 Million. They also stormed the airport on again on March 13, 2013 at about
7.30 pm.
But this time around, they
were reportedly engaged in a gun battle by two policemen attached to Apapa
division said to be on official
assignment at the airport. Unfortunately for the policemen, they were gunned
down in the process. But before they breathed their last, they managed to kill
a member of the gang.
The robbers said to have
succeeded in carting away over N10 Million from a Bureau-De -change
operators, went straight to their hideout inside a bush in Ijebu-Ode,
where they shared their loot.
Dedicates cars with members
from loot
In this interview with
Pastor Ibikunle, he disclosed that his share of the loot was N500,000. But
investigation carried out by Crime Guard, showed that he might have got more
than that. A suspected member of the gang confirmed Crime
Guard’s claim. A further attestation to this claim, was the discovery that
Pastor Ibikunle bought two cars
apparently from his share of the loot, two weekes later.
During Crime Guard’s visit
to The Way of Joy Church, located on Alliu Street, Egbe, Thursday, it was
discovered that the church was built with planks. And locating the church was a
difficult task, as there was no sign board. It took Crime Guard about an hour search to locate it.
On closer look , it was
discovered that the church had been
sealed. Although, no one agreed to talk about Pastor Ibikunle and the
church when approached, apparently for fear of being arrested .
Finally, a man who pleaded
anonymity opened up and asked :“Are you
a member of the church”? The reporters shook their heads.
He further said, “ if you
know what is good for you, better leave there before you will get yourself into
trouble. The white garment church was
sealed last week after the arrest of the Pastor.. Some policemen came last week
and arrested him and before we knew it, we started hearing he was a member of a
robbery gang. Even , the whole newspapers in Nigeria carried the news two days
ago”
Before his arrest, Pastor
Ibikunle was said to have dedicated two vehicles ,during which he hosted
members of his church and friends to a buffet.
“Although he is an easy-
going fellow who by every dint of appearance never exhibited any character of a
robber. We usually saw people coming in and out of the church on
daily. And on Sundays, there were usually church services.
Towards the end of the
month, he treated his members and
friends who came in posh cars to a party, in celebration of his newly
purchased cars. It was not long that we heard he bought them with the proceeds
from the robbery operation at the
airport. It was after his arrest that I believed the popular saying that facial
appearance is indeed deceptive”, another resident who earlier declined to speak
on the issue said.
Wife absconded with children
From Crime Guard’s findings,
it was discovered also that when operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad stormed
the clergy’s one-room apartment
located on the same building with the church, to effect his arrest, his wife was not at home.
On arrival, she was said to
have visited Ikotun, Ejigbo and Idimu
police stations in search for her
husband. She was said to have
also raised alarm that he could have been abducted by men in police
uniform.
But when news of her
husband’s alleged indulgence in criminal activities reached her, she was said
to have been spelled bound.
A family friend to the Ibikunles told Crime
Guard that, “ she came crying to us that some men in plain clothes came to pick
her husband. But when she discovered the truth at SARSs where we eventually
found him, she broke down. At first she did not believe the claim, as she
thought it could have been cooked up.
But when her husband confessed to her, she said that was the height she could take from him.
“More painful according to
her, is the fact that she said she asked her husband where he got the money
with which he bought the cars , only for him to tell her it was given to him by
someone who got healed of a terminal
disease after a deliverance section with him.”
As at the time Crime Guard
visited, Mrs Ibikunle was nowhere around the church’s premises. But a neigbour
later revealed that she was seen packing
her belongings out of the house, with her children. The resident could however,
not say her whereabouts. Since the arrest, no church member had reportedly come
to worship there.
I spent 14 hours in the bush
waiting for the gang members—Pastor Ibikunle
Speaking with Crime Guard,
Pastor Ibikunle revealed that he spent 14
hours in the gang’s hideout, inside a bush in Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun
State, on the day of the robbery attack at the international airport.
Hear him, “ Before that day, one of them, Asiwaju, said I should
come and administer an oat of secrecy on members of his gang. I invited them to
come to my church but they said they would not want to arouse
suspicion. At the end, I went to Ijebu-Ode. I waited at a designated point before a
member of the gang came and took me to their hideout inside the bush.
I administered the oath on
them about 1pm. You will not understand if I start explaining because it is a
spiritual thing. I said some incantation into a horn and added some other
things.
I waited there until they
came back around 11.30pm.,before leaving
next day, with N500,000. I was
instructed not to tell any one about what transpired. I swore, that is
all my involvement. I never followed them to rob”, he said.
Asked if he informed his
wife about his mission, he replied, “ No, I did not. I only told her when
leaving that I was going to pray over night for a ‘big man’ who would not like
to come to our area. And when I came back, I told her the money was given to me
by the ‘big man’”.
I regret my involvement
In an emotional laden voice,
Pastor Ibikunle looked at Crime Guard , battling hard not to betray his
emotion, “ Am I going to die? He asked with a tear filled eyes. Ah! he
exclaimed. I would have remained in my cubicle as a poor man than heeding the
advice of the gang. Now, I am left
without nothing! My condition is even worse.
“I’m appealing to every
member of my church to forgive me for
embarrassing them. This is the devil’s handiwork. I can not even face members
of my family now…”, the 37 year-old father of
two paused and bent his head, refusing to speak any further.
Source: Vanguard
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