Buba Abdullahi, Abubakar Jabi, Momodu Sheu and Bello Umar are between 20 and 25 years old. They are of Bororo extraction and worked as herdsmen for cattle owners in Oyo Town, Oyo State. Looking at their youthful faces, one would hardly imagine the brutality they allegedly unleashed. But behind the seemingly calm exterior, investigators say, lay a readiness to employ violence to achieve their aims.

That disposition allegedly manifested during an armed robbery operation they carried out recently. One of the victims, a married woman, recounted how nature saved her from being s3xually assaulted. She said she was menstruating at the time of the attack, forcing the suspects to abandon their alleged attempt to rape her. Trembling with fear, she reportedly pulled out the sanitary pad she was using from her torn leggings, waved it and cried out in broken Hausa: “Yaro” (indicating she was a mother with a child) and “Mata” (indicating she was a married woman).

The younger female victim was not as fortunate. Her resistance to an alleged attempt to s3xually assault her reportedly earned her repeated blows with her attackers’ herding clubs and machete cuts on both legs and one arm. She was also beaten mercilessly. As of the time of this report, she was unable to walk and had to be carried.

It was learnt that the four suspects were arrested one after another by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) of the Oyo State Police Command. The unit was recently established by the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu. The suspects are alleged to have carried out the armed robbery operation on Aawe–Iwo Road on Sunday, July 5, at about 8:00 p.m., after blocking the road in Afijio Local Government Area and robbing occupants of a vehicle of cash and other valuables.

Explaining how the suspects were apprehended, the Command’s spokesman, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, said a distress call was received at the Police Control Room, Eleyele, Ibadan, reporting that armed robbers had barricaded the Oyo–Iwo Expressway around Akoda Village in Afijio Local Government Area.

“The hoodlums reportedly attacked motorists and passengers travelling from a nearby market towards Iwo Town, dispossessing them of their valuables. Some victims sustained machete injuries during the attack, while others were subjected to other violent acts,” the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) stated.

Ayanlade said the Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, immediately directed VCRU operatives to move to the scene. They secured the area, rescued the victims and combed the crime scene, recovering the butt of a single-barrel gun and two herding clubs believed to have been used during the operation.

“Further intelligence-driven investigation led the VCRU operatives to the hideouts of the suspects, culminating in the initial arrests of Abubakar Jabi and Momodu Sheu,” Ayanlade disclosed.

It was learnt that the two suspects initially denied involvement, but further interrogation led to the arrests of the remaining suspects, Buba Abdullahi and Bello Umar. Police said all four later confessed to participating in the robbery. During an identification parade, the victims identified them as their attackers and as those who robbed them of cash and other valuables.

A search of one of the suspects’ hideouts also led to the recovery of a rechargeable torchlight belonging to one of the victims. The employer of three of the suspects, one Alhaji Lawan, was said to have petitioned the police through a lawyer, insisting that his workers had been wrongly accused. However, he reportedly changed his position after hearing the suspects confess in his presence.

It was further learnt that the suspects, like many itinerant herders, travelled to the South in trucks conveying goods. On arrival, they reportedly settled in Sabongari communities, where many Hausa residents live, until cattle owners engaged them through agents. Investigators said Buba emerged as the leader of the group and allegedly directed the others during their criminal operations.

Narrating how they were attacked, the driver of the vehicle, Amuda (other name withheld), who is also the husband of one of the female victims, said he and his wife are traders who sell their goods in rural markets.

“We were coming from Omo Oba Market at Lanite Village. On getting to Akoda Village, I noticed logs used to block the road. As I tried to dodge them, my vehicle got stuck in a pothole and couldn’t move again, and we were waylaid by armed robbers. They were about four. They collected cash from us. They assaulted my wife and the young lady with us. We called security people and they came promptly. They followed us to the spot where the incident occurred.

“Before they got to the scene, the attackers had left after taking our bag containing cash and a torchlight. However, they dropped the Point of Sale (PoS) terminal and power bank that were also inside the bag.”

One of the female victims, aged 20, also recounted her ordeal:

“As my boss tried to manoeuvre, he encountered a ditch filled with water and the vehicle stopped moving. My boss ran away while we were still in the vehicle. Suddenly, we saw four men who were armed and wearing masks. They used the butt of their gun to break the side glass of our vehicle. My boss’s wife and I wanted to escape through the broken glass but I fell. My boss’s wife started running into the bush, but they went after her while one of them remained with me.

“He dragged me to the back of the vehicle and wanted to rape me. However, I resisted him. He tore my skirt and other clothing items I had on. He pulled off his face mask and started using his herding club (sanda) to hit my entire body. When he noticed that I was not crying but was holding his clothes tightly, he brought out his cutlass and slashed my legs and hand.

“I didn’t know how I managed to free myself from him and run into the bush. He pursued me, but I lay flat among the bushes without him noticing me. The others later joined him, and I heard them speaking Yoruba. The man who attacked me pointed in another direction, saying, ‘She went that way.’ As they searched elsewhere, I returned to where the vehicle was and slipped into the bush on the opposite side. I kept walking until I saw lights on the road. I came out briefly but returned into the bush when I noticed many lights, fearing they belonged to the attackers. When I heard voices and realised they were hunters, I came out and explained that I was looking for my boss. They continued searching while I took refuge in a nearby village.”

The 28-year-old wife also narrated her experience:

“When we got to the spot where we encountered the armed robbers, my husband fled to seek help from a nearby village. When the attackers broke the side glass, my husband’s apprentice and I jumped out and ran into the bush in the dark. I heard their footsteps behind me as they pursued and eventually caught up with me. They took me back to where our vehicle was, but I didn’t see the apprentice. They collected the bag containing the proceeds of our market sales. They left the power bank and PoS terminal but took all the cash along with the torchlight.

“They then started dragging me deeper into the bush. I held onto the clothes of one of them, who had removed his face mask, and the cloth tore under his armpit. They attempted to have sexual intercourse with me, but I was menstruating. They beat me with their herding stick and tore my leggings. When they discovered I was menstruating, one of them was instructed to lead me out of the bush. He abandoned me after taking me some distance, and I eventually emerged by the roadside, where I saw hunters and vigilantes approaching. They left me in safety and returned to comb the bush. Not long afterwards, we were informed that some of the attackers had been arrested. I recognised the one whose clothing had torn under the armpit.”

In an interview, Buba, who claimed not to know his age but said he hailed from Kebbi State, stated: “I’m a herder. I came to Oyo about three years ago and one Alhaji Lawan employed me.”

Asked when he added armed robbery to herding, Buba replied: “Wallahi, this is my first time engaging in armed robbery since I came to Oyo.”

Explaining what led him into crime, he said: “We used to hear about our tribesmen doing it, so we came together to do it too. It was an evil spirit that took over us.”

Asked whether the same “evil spirit” also supplied the firearms allegedly recovered from them, Buba responded: “We found the guns—a Dane gun and a single-barrel gun—in abandoned buildings while herding. We didn’t usually carry them around. We only went to retrieve them when we wanted to carry out the robbery.”

Buba continued: “The four of us who formed the gang met in Oyo, but, coincidentally, we all hail from Kebbi State. I came in contact with Jabi about two months ago when we met in the bush while herding cattle. Our bosses are friends, so we started herding together.”

How we planned, carried out our robbery operation

Buba said: “After herding, we usually had a place where we all slept. The four of us had already made a plan. On the day of the operation, I woke the others. We had no specific target. Our aim was to rob whoever came our way.

“When we got to the roadside, we picked sticks and plantain logs and used them to block the road. Armed with a Dane gun, cutlass and herding clubs (sanda), we hid nearby. We had planned to rob motorcyclists, but a vehicle approached instead, so we decided to attack it.”

Responding to the allegation that he attempted to rape the female victims, Buba denied it.

“We asked the woman to lie down after she was dragged into the bush because we didn’t want her shouting for help. She pleaded that she was a mother with a child and also brought out her stained sanitary pad to show she was menstruating. Her leggings got torn while we were dragging her; we did not deliberately tear them in an attempt to rape her,” he said.

He admitted holding the younger woman but denied attacking her with a cutlass, insisting that he only beat her with a herding stick. He also admitted taking the torchlight found inside the victims’ bag as well as a wristwatch forcibly collected from one of them. He said his share of the stolen money was ₦14,000.

Jabi, aged 20, told Saturday Tribune: “I came from Kebbi State to work in Oyo. I got ₦14,500 as my share of the money found in the victims’ bag. I went with the gang and was present during the operation, but I didn’t touch any of the victims. It was Sheu who did. I was initially arrested by mistake because we look alike. I denied involvement at first because the others had not been arrested. Now that all of us have been apprehended, there is nothing to hide.”

Twenty-one-year-old Sheu also confessed: “I was the one who pursued the married woman and dragged her back to where Buba was with the younger girl.”

He, however, denied attempting to rape the married woman.

“It is true I dragged her, and she brought out a sanitary pad and showed us. I don’t know whether Buba intended to assault her sexually. I only used a club to hit her. I got ₦14,500 as my share of the loot.”

The fourth suspect, Umar, aged 25, said his role was to pick up the victims’ bag containing the money before moving away. He alleged that it was Buba who ordered the married woman to lie down after she was dragged to where he was, but that he became calm when she produced the sanitary pad. Umar also alleged that it was Buba who smashed the side glass of the vehicle. He said he, too, received ₦14,500 as his share.

The employer of the suspects, Alhaji Lawan, said he was shocked by their confessions.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune, he described their alleged actions as “very bad.”

“The reason I got a lawyer was because when I was informed about the incident, I asked my boys what happened and they denied involvement. They said they were arrested at the camp where they were tending cattle. I didn’t want them to remain with vigilantes. I wanted them transferred to Ibadan for proper police investigation. That was why I engaged a lawyer.

“I don’t subscribe to criminality. In fact, I once suffered greatly at the hands of herders I employed. They killed one of my children and kidnapped another. They collected ₦5 million as ransom for my second child, but three years later I have still not seen him. They wanted to kill me, but when they couldn’t find me, they attacked my children instead. It has been three years since my second son disappeared despite the ransom payment. If I ever see a bad person, I will also kill him.”

Commissioner of Police Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga commended the professionalism, courage and prompt response of the VCRU operatives, describing the operation as further evidence of the Oyo State Police Command’s determination to combat violent crime across the state. (Saturday Tribune)

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