NIGERIA--Sakiru Ope Oluwa is an okada ridder. He also has an unusual love for the green bottles. That strong attachment for liqiour is now his nemesis as the 25-year-old man is now in police net for helping transport arms in exchange for alcohol and some amount of money. In his confessional statement, OpeOluwa simply described himself as Okada rider who plies between Sango-Ota, in Ogun State and Oshodi, in Lagos State. And charge between N200 and N300 per trip.
“I met Owolabi a month ago, shortly after I relocated to Sango, following the demolition of our home in Oyingbo by the Lagos State government. I did not have a particular abode but I always put up every night in one of the open stalls inside the popular Sango market. It was there I came across Owolabi and we became friends . We both used to drink beer together. He used to buy me bottles of Star Lager beers after the close of business every day.”
According to OpeOluwa, “On Thursday, September 8, 2011, Owolabi approached me and said he wanted to send me to meet one Baba Femi at Igolo town to collect guns on his behalf. He did not hide the items and he told me they were guns and he pledged to offer me a sum of N5, 000 if I could carry out the task and I nodded in agreement. He gave me Baba Femi’s mobile number to call him when I get to Igolo.
He stressed further :the following day, being Friday, September 9, 2011 I boarded a bus from Sango motor-park to Igolo. When I got to Igolo, I called Baba Femi but he could not be reached. I went to a nearby business center and kept on trying his number until I got Baba Femi on the phone. Also, Owolabi had called Baba Femi and told him that I was already in Igolo. When I met Baba Femi, he took me to a beer parlour and offered me two bottles of Star Lager beer and left to an unknown place. When he returned, he came with a black polythene bag and handed it over to me. He asked me to give the items to Owolabi and I went back,” OpeOluwa said.
Explaining the way he was arrested by the police, OpeOluwa continued, “In a bid to make it faster and return to Sango I decided to board Ajegunle bus from where I intended to take another vehicle to my final destination. It was when we got to Ajegunle and I wanted to urinate that some boys sighted me and beckoned at me to come. I heeded and went to them. They searched the black nylon bag I was holding and upon a search, they stumbled on the weapons. That was how I was arrested. I had taken the detectives to Baba Femi and Owolabi’s homes but they had bolted away.”
Speaking on Ope Oluwa’s arrest, Commissioner of Police Ogun State, Nicholas Daru Nkemdeme, said that the suspect was arrested after a tip-off. Nkemdeme then urged members of the public to always provide useful information about people they suspect are living beyond their means in the neighborhood.
Nkemdeme said the suspects claimed to be making out a living riding the popular commercial motorcycles known as okada. His usual route is between the border town and Oshodi, in the heart of Lagos State. Ope Oluwa, 27, said he makes an average of N3, 000 on daily basis conveying stranded commuters to the Center of Excellence. At the close of work every day, Ope Oluwa reportedly settles down at any pub around to unwind. Once he settles to his drink at the pub, the suspect reportedly would drink until it is time to lock up the bar. By that time, Ope Oluwa would have been dead drunk. This he reportedly does almost on daily basis. Unknown to him, the suspect knack for beer is drawing interest from some unscrupulous elements that saw in the Itoku, Abeokuta, Ogun State-born Okada rider, a useful tool to perfect their heinous crime. At the moment, Ope Oluwa is in police custody and faces prosecution for serving as conduit pipe to courier weapons for the notorious group.
A day before his arrest Ope Oluwa allegedly drank at a beer popular beer parlour in Sango-Ota, when he was joined by a friend of his, identified as Owolabi, who allegedly requested that OpeOluwa go to Igolo and bring the weapons for him. Ope Oluwa and Owolabi had reportedly been drinking mates for some time now, where the latter often consumed more by the suspect. On that fateful day was arrested he was said to be at the beer parlour to meet Owolabi after an arranged meeting. At the meeting, Owolabi allegedly promised the suspect N5, 000 and several bottles of beer if he could go and bring a consignment from one Baba Femi at Igolo town.
The spokesman of the command, Mr Ademuyi Adejobi, said the suspect would soon appeared in court while those at large will be apprehended too and face the law.
via nigeriancompass
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