Seeing a man approaching a stall where household items are being sold to purchase a pestle, the trader and others in the area are likely to harbour the thoughts of the buyer being a very good husband who must have cherished his family so much as to spare time to purchase a damaged item which is usually attached to a woman. But to 35-year-old Aliu (surname withheld), who went to purchase one, his plan was sinister – to strike down any okada rider who might try to stop him from dispossessing him of his motorcycle. It was the weapon he and his gang member, Toheeb (surname also withheld) chose to use gain power over targeted motorcyclists until their cups became full recently.

The two armed robbery suspects were arrested by the operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) in Oyo State Police Command after they started their criminal operations in different parts of Ibadan City, in Oyo Town, and even extended it to Iwo Town in Osun State. Their operation in Oyo Town was said to have been unsuccessful, while they hijacked two motorcycles from their owners in Iwo Town.

The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, who spoke on the arrest to Saturday Tribune, said that the VCRU operatives had been on the trail of one of the suspects, Toheeb, who had been initially arrested in February by a surveillance team for phone theft.

The PPRO said that the operatives, on intelligence gathering, learnt that Toheeb was frequently seen with a sack, moving out of an area, at nightfall. Thinking that it could be a gun, the operatives kept trailing the suspect until he was arrested along with his partner in crime after their last operation at Oki area, Olodo axis in Ibadan.

He was eventually trailed and apprehended, followed by the arrest of Aliu, and, during preliminary investigation, both confessed to being serial armed robbers who were pretending to be passengers, but would end up dispossessing the owners of their bikes.

Saturday Tribune gathered that Aliu a.k.a Ibadan, from Lalupon in Oyo State, was the one who introduced the armed robbery style to Toheeb. Their modus operandi was to move out at night, armed with a pestle cut to a size that would make it club-like, but bigger in size. After putting it in a sack, they would target a motorcycle, wave down its rider and ask to be taken to a destination. Aliu would sit behind the rider while Toheeb would be at the back, holding the pestle hidden in a sack. On getting to a quiet or deserted spot, they would stop the driver as if they would want to disembark, only to land the pestle on the rider’s neck and escape with his motorcycle while he would be writhing in pain or running away to escape being killed. The riders who tried to fight back to prevent being dispossessed of their belongings reportedly suffered most, as they would receive more blows from the pestle to weaken them physically, leaving them no choice but to give up. From that spot, the suspects would speed off and end up selling their loot.

Saturday Tribune further learnt that Aliu was once an ex-inmate in Ilaro Custodial Centre in Ogun State after committing an offence, and had spent four years before he regained freedom. According to information gathered, their outings every month were more than 10 times, and were always successful except the one in Oyo Town.

In a bid to disguise the atrocities they were perpetrating, each of the suspects started running a gas station from the proceeds of their criminal operations, but told VCRU operatives that they continued hijacking motorcycles because of low returns from the business.

Further investigation led to the discovery of transactions between the suspects and the buyers of the robbed motorcycles, with one of them always paying for the purchased motorcycles in cash while another was so benevolent that he even gave N200,000 to Aliu as a monetary gift to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday, while he would loan them money or a dash of N10,000, N20,000 for outings.

In his confession, Aliu disclosed that he learnt how to use pestle on their victims from the experience he also once had in the hand of such a criminal.

Aliu, who made it known that he learnt furniture as a vocation, said: “I was arrested because my gang member, Toheeb, and I, used to dispossess motorcyclists of their bikes while armed. Our mode of operation was to flag down a motorcyclist and ask to be taken to a destination. I would sit directly behind the rider while Toheeb would be at my back. Whenever we got to the targeted spot where we could attack, I would get down and pretend as if I wanted to pay. At that time, Toheeb would pull out the pestle kept in the bag he was holding and smash it on the rider’s neck.”

Disclosing that his gang began its operation in December 2025, Aliu explained how he fell victim to the method of robbery he adopted: “Following my learning furniture making, I was doing the job in Lagos before moving to Igbesa in Ogun State. While there, I bought a motorcycle which I was using to convey frozen turkey from Seme Roundabout to Ijanikin Otto or Okokomaiko. On my return, I would pick passengers.

“One day, I picked a passenger, and as he was dropping off, I didn’t know what happened to me. By the time I became conscious, I saw people surrounding me, asking questions. I felt pain on my neck as if I was hit with something. When I became a lit bit calm, I realised my motorcycle had disappeared. My attacker was unable to go with his weapon and we found it to be a pestle cut into a sizeable shape like a big club. That was what later gave me an idea of hijacking motorcycles from owners.

“I suggested the idea to Toheeb in December 2025. We were working together at a block-making industry at Oloje in Ibadan which I joined in June the same year. He was the machine operator while I was a sand and cement mixer.

“One day, we were discussing and I told him of my experience in Igbesa. Some days after, I brought up the issue and suggested we start the same operation to get money. This was because our boss used to deny us the payment of our wages whenever concrete blocks got broken due to rainfall. Sometimes, we would not get paid for two, three days, so, that brought the thought to my mind. Toheeb agreed with me. We left our employer that December and went to purchase a pestle for N5,000.”

Our first operation

“It was at Iwo Road. We flagged down a motorcyclist at about 8:30 p.m. and just told him to go along the road. We directed him towards a deserted spot and asked him to drop us off. I had already told Toheeb what he would do, so I made as if I wanted to pay the transport fare to the rider. Toheeb suddenly landed the pestle on the back side of the man’s neck who yelled in pain and started running away. I mounted the bike, with its engine still running. Toheeb quickly joined me and we sped off.”

However, according to Aliu, all they got as payment for the first bike was N50,000. He narrated what happened: “Immediately we dispossessed the owner of his motorcycle, we moved to Sabo at Mokola area of Ibadan, sourcing for a quick buyer. We saw a Hausa guy and inquired on how to get a buyer. The guy called another Hausa man whose name we didn’t know, and he said he would ride the motorcycle to a place to get a buyer. To our shock, on his return, he brought N50,000. We started dragging issues with him but he said that the motorcycle was old. It was while the altercation was going on that another Hausa man came in and told Toheeb and I to take it easy, as the bike would not be returned to us. He promised to link me with someone who would buy from us at a reasonable price.

“About a week later, we went for another operation at Alakia area and the Hausa man took us to another man from his tribe. He was living among the Hausa at Bodija. He bought it for N300,000. We gave our link N20,000 and shared the remaining equally.

“Later, we didn’t see the buyer again, and our Sabo link connected us with another person, who is also a Hausa man. In that December alone, we hijacked 10 motorcycles.

“I cannot say precisely the number of operations we carried out. We started using the money to make purchases of household items. I also started a gas station. I’m only left with about N100,000.”

Aliu claimed that none of their victims was killed as they usually ran away to save their lives, while the stubborn ones also capitulated when they got more blows on their hands from the pestle. He confirmed that one of the buyers also used to hand out free money to them whenever they had anything to celebrate such as birthday ceremony. He said that one of the buyers used to pay in cash.

Aliu spoke on what led to his being remanded in prison for four years before he regained freedom: “I was involved in a fight. We were in a bar in Igbesa when a fight broke out and someone was stabbed. And the person stabbed was the son of an influential figure. Though I was not the one who stabbed him, I was present at the time, and I was pointed at when people were being picked. I was an Awaiting Trial Inmate (ATM). My parents didn’t know of what happened to me because I lost my phone and couldn’t contact them. The case was eventually struck out after four years of awaiting trial.”

On why he went into crime on his return to Ibadan, paving the way for another stay in the prison, Aliu said: “It was not my desire. I pray for God’s mercy.”

Toheeb a.k.a Tboy Alaso, and aged 27, in his own story, told Saturday Tribune: “I learnt motor spare parts trading before I started working as a machine operator at a block-making industry when there was no one to help in taking care of my kids. I have two daughters, but my wife got missing in 2023 when our second child was 15 months old. I sent her to her bank during the time of no-cash, because I was using her account, and we didn’t know what happened to her. My in-laws blamed me for it and I started going to spiritualists to seek her return home, but was told that we should forget about her. Till today, we have yet to set her.

“I met Aliu at the block-making industry and we were working together. Sometimes, I would go and sleep in his apartment. One day, he told me of a particular work we could be doing together that would yield more than we were getting as wages at the industry. He didn’t open up to me immediately. He made a mistake by saying that I followed him to buy the pestle. We didn’t go together. On a day, he took me to Iwo Road. He was the one who carried the sack with the pestle. We boarded a bike, and as we got down and I was paying the bike man, Aliu hit him with the pestle. As the man wanted to raise the alarm, Aliu handed the pestle to me to deal with the motorcyclist while he mounted the bike.”

He confirmed keeping the pestle in his mother’s rented but abandoned room which he had a key to. He also disclosed that the motorcycles they sold to one of the receivers were more than 12 pieces in December 2025. According to Toheeb, the highest amount the gang got from the receivers of the stolen motorcycles was N650,000 while the lowest was N300,000.

He said when he was arrested in February, he admitted stealing phones as a diversion from the armed robbery he was carrying out with Aliu, but was fortunate to have been pleaded for by a personality. Toheeb stated further that though Aliu escaped arrest at that time, they continued the bike hijacking after he was released until his latest arrest in his residence at Apata Area of Ibadan. He however admitted his wrong.

The PPRO said that the VCRU operatives are making efforts to apprehend the receivers of the stolen motorcycles, after which they would face the full weight of the law. (TRIBUNE)