Gang leader who shot Oyo lawmaker nabbed

BY: Funmi Ojuroye  26th Sept., 2013

The Oyo State Police Command says it has  arrested one Abiodun Adelabu, a suspected gang leader who shot a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly during a robbery incident in Ibadan last month.Bamidele Ojo, representing Ibadan South East 1 in the Assembly, was buying fuel at a filling station in the Ashi area of the city when suspected armed robbers pounced on him and snatched his Toyota Avensis car. He was allegedly shot in the process by the gang leader.On the same day, the robbers trailed another lawmaker, Fakorede Farinto, representing Iwajowa constituency, to the New Alakia area of Ibadan and snatched his Honda CRV utility vehicle from him.It was learnt that three members of the gang were earlier arrested, but Adelabu escaped arrest until a team of Special Anti-Robbery Squad from the command nabbed  him at the Beyerunka/Oke Ofa Atipe area of Ibadan.The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Ilobanafo, said Adelabu had confessed to the crime.“During investigation, he told us that he was the gang leader and that the two cars were snatched by his gang in two separate robbery operations,” Ilobanafo said.Adelabu however told our correspondent that he did not pull the trigger on the lawmaker, blaming another member of the gang, whom  he identified simply as Suraju for the shooting.“We met the lawmaker at a filling station in Ashi and robbed him at gun point. We did not know that he is a lawmaker. We were five in numbers, Suraju, Biola, Dayo, Yusuf and I. Ibrahim Animashaun popularly called Ashiri is our godfather. After the robbery, we gave the car to a car dealer called Bigi who lives in Abuja. He regularly requested of us to get him clean cars and he paid N400,000 for each.“I did not shoot the lawmaker, Suraju shot him. Before the robbery, we had robbed five others of their vehicles in Ibadan.”