AN ex-inmate of Ilorin prison, Teslim Mohammed, who was recently arrested by the operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo/Ogbomoso annex, while planning a robbery attack with his gang members, has blamed the devil for his return to crime.

This was just as he vowed that he would never return to crime if let off the hook this time, saying that police should not hesitate to kill him if he was caught again.

The suspect was among other gang members paraded by the Oyo State Police Command at its headquarters in Ibadan on April, 28.

Speaking on the arrest, the Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, disclosed that two of the gang members broke into the residence of one Adelakun Adekola, a member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, and stole his official single barrel gun issued to him by the local government for security purpose, with the aim of using it to commit crime.

He stated further that the hoodlums cut the gun to a size that would enable them conceal it during robbery operations but two of them, Ajibesin Solomon (22) and Adeniyi Tunde (32), were arrested while planning a robbery operation to be carried out in some parts of Ogbomoso, Oyo and Ilorin, Kwara State.

As a follow-up, the SARS operatives also arrested six other suspected gang members on April 26 at about 3a.m.. They include Aliu Wale Azeez a.k.a AZ (28), Teslim Mohammed (26), Olanrewaju Ajayi (23), Kehinde Abiodun (28), Adeleke Adeyemi (26), and Adamu Mohammed (23).

The gang was said to be notorious and were operating in Oyo and Ogbomoso axis of Oyo State and Ilorin, Kwara State.

Recovered from the suspects were three cut-to-size barrel guns, three locally-made pistols, 14 live cartridges, four jack knives, six cutlasses, one saw blade, assorted criminal charms, among other items.

Crime Reports interviewed some of the arrested suspects. Below are the excerpts of the interview:

Teslim Mohammed

I am from Erin-Ile in Kwara State but live at Sango, Ilorin. I was a drycleaner. It was Tunde who brought a gun to me that he wanted to sell it. I knew Tunde in Ilorin; he was a carpenter. Tunde knew me as a hard guy and we used to meet at hemp joint.

I called my friend, AZ, to cut it to size, after which we kept it beside a primary school in Ilorin. After that, we attempted to use it to rob at Gaa Akanbi area of Ilorin but we were unsuccessful. Tunde was later challenged and arrested, while we fled.

One of us, Solomon, who returned to his residence at Gambari in Ogbomoso, was also challenged by his community members and he was arrested. Tunde brought police to arrest me.

I was once remanded in prison after we robbed some students in Ilorin. I spent close to a year in prison before I was granted bail. The case is still in court. I got AZ's number from a prison's inmate called Tosin. It was AZ who gave me the number of another gang member, Bayo.

I don't understand myself; it was the devil's work that made me do the job. If I am let off the hook, I will never venture into crime again. If I try to commit crime again, the police should kill me after catching me.

Aliu Wale Azeez (AZ)

Tosin and I were not really in the same gang; only that we come from the same place. I have also been to the prison. Tosin only wanted me to connect Teslim with one Anthony Femi; that was why he gave my number to Teslim when he was leaving prison. Femi brought a gun and joined it with the one Teslim had. I was asked to keep the guns and I did. That was the only involvement I had and it was the mistake I made.

I am into carpentry and furniture making. Solomon Ajibesin and I stole the gun of a man who lives in our community and works as a security guard. We wanted to use the gun to snatch a car in Ilorin. It was the owner of the gun who came to ask me of his gun. I believe he used juju to detect that I was the one who stole the gun from his house.