Molly Kilete, Abuja

One of the gang leaders of the robbery syndicate that robbed some banks at Offa, Kwara State on April, 5, has given a fresh insight into the incident, saying he only killed five out of the 33 persons killed during the bloody robbery operation.

Adeola Abraham, who says he deals in wood, said he is not a killer but that he was provoked to kill the five persons after the crowd threw stones at him. He said that after taking his position when they got to the scene of the robbery, the crowd on sighting him with his gun began to throw stones at him.

In an interview with Saturday Sun, the suspect said one of the stones thrown at him hit him hard on the head. According to the suspect, the stone was so big that, were he not a strong man, he would have collapsed because he staggered and lost his balance.

And as soon as he regained balance, he said he opened fire and killed the five persons instantly. He said that if not for his gun, the crowd would have killed him because they were daring, bold and courageous as they came out with various objects to fight back.

The 35-year-old unmarried suspect said he has been in the business of selling wood since 2006, before his friends Ayoade Akinnibosun and Ibukunle Ogunleye, introduced him to armed robbery.

He told Saturday Sun that the Offa bank robbery was his first ever robbery operation and that he mastered the art of shooting within 24 hours under the tutelage of one of his masters.

In this interview, the suspect opened up about how he started his journey into the underworld and his regrets.

What is your name?
My name is Adeola Abraham, I am 35 years old.

What do you do for a living?
I do wood business

How long have you been in the wood business?
I have been in the business since 2005.

Are you making money from it?
Yes

So why did you go into robbery?
I got into armed robbery through my friends. Before now I have never participated in armed robbery

How?
I was in the shop one day, April 3, to be precise when a friend of mine called me, and that is Kunle here. He called me that I should come and meet them somewhere and I said for what. He said there was a meeting going on there, that I should leave whatever I was doing and come over. I was thinking it is a political meeting but unfortunately before I left sawmill to go and meet them at the venue, they had already finished their meeting.

So after their meeting, a friend of mine called me which is this Kunle again and briefed me about the meeting and said that it was Mike, who is a friend to AY, who brought the job.

What kind of job?
Armed robbery

How many days notice did you get?
I can never say precisely, but they gave me notice on April 3.

So I asked them, how do we get the instruments. And they said they had already talked to the man, Mike, and that he will take care of everything. So that was how the whole thing started and the next day, Mike taught us how to use gun.

Where did he teach you?
He took us to the same place where they met at Ajashe, and the next day he took us inside the bush in the same Ajashe, and taught us how to shoot. He brought bullets and guns and coached us and told us to get ready the next day, which is April 5.

How many people did you kill?
Five people

But you said you only learnt how to shoot April 4, how come you killed five?
The reason why I killed people is because when the operation started, they started to throw stones, I mean the civilians there began to throw stones. As I pulled the trigger, that was how the people fell down.

Why didn’t you stop after killing one person?
The reason why I did that is because the stones they were throwing, one hit me on the head, that was why I continued and killed five.

How did you escape after the robbery?
Where our leader stood, that was where we passed through and escaped. We passed through the main road and entered Ijagbo road, so from Ijagbo, we took off.

How much was the total loot?
I don’t know the actual amount that we made because I did not go inside the bank with them, my duty was to take care of any intruder outside. And I have not been given my own share of the loot yet because I believe everything will come through our leader.

How did the vehicle you used for the robbery get to govt house?
Before I got to know that the vehicle was parked at the government house, we have been arrested so I don’t know how it got there. I don’t know whether they took the motor to government house.

How did your leader get the vehicle?
He got the car through the government, that is what I know.

So all of you work for the state govt?
I joined the race through a friend, I was not in politics before so that is how I started.

How do you communicate with the govt?
We communicate with the government people through our leader here, AY.

How do you get funds?
Like I told you earlier, I have my own business and to the glory of God, I can feed myself and I can even give somebody money to take care of himself. If there is any function and they want me to know, I will know and if they don’t want me to know I will not know.

The ones they want me to know, they will call to inform me that there is a function at so and so place, then I will follow them. When we finish the function, they will give us the money, that is how we get our funds.

So do you know the Senate President?
No.

What about the governor?
No.

The Chief of Staff?
There is a day that I followed them to government house and that day I saw the chief of staff

Does he know you guys are into robbery?
I can’t say because I don’t have this cordial relationship with him like Ayo.

Are you married?
No.

Why are you not married?
I am not married because most times if I get a woman and if we perform like normal human beings and it does not yield to anything, it makes the woman to leave me. So that is the reason I made up my mind not to marry. I don’t even like women like that.

How do you feel about the whole incident and the killings?
I cannot deceive myself and deceive my God, I feel bad. I feel very bad

Your advice to youths?
I want young people out there, they should begin to move closer to God and be careful of bad friends and bad group because everything is vanity.