73 years old Grandpa of robbers caught aAfter a decade robbing

Nemesis has finally caught up with three old men aged 73, 60 and 50 after more than a de­cade in the illegal business of car theft.

The gang members identified as Ramoni Adeleke, Kola Odenide and Lekan Lanleye who have successful­ly escaped the law for years were finally arrested after stealing a Hilux van in Ebute Meta area of Lagos.

They were picked up by operatives of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad, lagos police command, Ikeja, four months after they sold the van worth N9 million at a giveaway price of N700,000.

Saturday Sun gathered that as soon as the police was alerted that a Hilux van was stolen from where it was parked, Commissioner of Police, Aderanti directed that the matter be transferred to SARS for investigation.

The officer in-charge of SARS, Abba Kyari was said to have deployed his tracking team who were able to locate the stolen vehicle in Benin, Edo State in the custody of a 73-year-old man who was later identified as Lekan Lanleye. The stolen vehicle was actually spotted in a car stand where it was displayed for sale. Hoping to hear the man allege that he unknowingly bought the car from robbers, police were shocked when Lekan during interrogation admitted that he knew the source and actually requested for it.

He confessed to the police that he has been a receiver for decades and had never been arrested because he does busi­ness with adults who are extremely careful. It was then that he indicted Ramoni Adeleke, 50, and Kola Odenide, 60. The two suspects he claimed he had met more than 20 years ago.

The police was able to trace Kola to Ikorodu in Lagos where he has a mansion and several investments while all efforts to track down Ramoni in his residence at Iba estate, along Badagry expressway failed as neighbours said he had disappeared for weeks.

Weeks later, detectives located him in Ede South Local Government Area of Osun State. “We discovered that he was currently an alfa in the mosque which we later learnt that he built for his community. He also hired the services of an Imam who controlled the mosque while he administered prayers to the needy. Detectives monitored him, including sending in some of officers to the mosque. They waited for him till in the morning when he had come out to preach in the neighbourhood, he was arrested and taken back to La­gos”, a police source said.

Decades of crime

The youngest of the three, Ramoni, confessed that he ac­tually learnt the job from an elderly man he referred to as Baba Fatai when he was in his early 20s. “I met Baba in a barber shop and was so impressed by his person. He had a Volkswagen and in the 80s, such persons were believed to be rich and educated. I told him that I would like to be great like him. As a young man, I wanted to be an Islamic cleric; he was the one that advised me to strive to become a rich man first. I agreed and became his boy. Initially I was shocked when I realised his main source of wealth but de­cided to toe that path when he gave me N1000 which was so much money then. The first car that I witnessed him steal was a Fiat Panda and we sold it for N1500. My share then was N500. Gradually, he taught me the illegal business and I became a master.”

On how they easily move cars, Ramoni said that the late Baba was a trained mechanical engineer. “Baba was an en­gineer and he told me that he was trained in Germany. He knew a lot about cars, that was one of the reasons we were never caught. He had a gadget that he would pass under the car to detect if there is any device that can be used to trace the car. I will forcefully draw back the car handle, while he uses a metal to open the door. It is very simple. I became an expert and independent.”

Since his initial dream was to become a cleric, Ramoni built a mosque in his village in Osun and close to his house in Iba, along Badagry expressway, Lagos. “I started building a mosque as far back as early 90s. I also travelled to Mecca severally and attended Arabic school. I became popular and hired Imams to run the mosque both in Lagos and Osun. I thought it was a good investment and a way of finally leav­ing crime but I realised that the economy and location of the mosque was not good. It was poor Muslims that were making use of the mosque except in rare cases where you get desperate people who are in search of solution to their problem by any possible means.”

On his alliance with Kola, he claimed they met 12 years back. “At a point, Baba Fatai became old and fell sick. He was finding it difficult to arrange deals. I met Kola through another thief who told me that he was reliable. We formed a very strong syndicate which was coordinated by our receiv­er, Lekan. The man has been with us for years as he is the only one who we sell these stolen cars to. He is a car dealer and had so many of us as his suppliers. He only does busi­ness with the elderly who he believes are very careful. This worked for us because if he is arrested, we will all be in trou­ble. For more than 20 years that I have been in this business, I have never had any case with the police,” Ramoni insists.

Realising that Kola had been arrested, Ramoni relocated to Ede in Osun State to evade arrest. “I was shocked that Kola would be so careless to allow himself to be caught. I never knew that it was Baba that was giving police informa­tion. I ran home and concentrated on my calling which is to be an alfa. Last week, after my early morning evangelism, I was arrested by the police. I do not use guns, I only move a car if it is wrongly parked. Immediately I was arrested, I quickly shaved off my mustache because I knew that my business has come to an end. If God gives me a second chance, I will grow it back”, Ramoni said.

Kola, 60, is not also hiding the fact that he has never been sent to jail for car theft. He, however, claimed that 10 years ago, he was arrested by operatives of the State Criminal In­vestigative Department, Panti but was later released. “I was arrested but because I returned the car intact, the owner was no longer interested in the case, that’s why I was released immediately. Since then, I have been careful till this inci­dent. I actually checked if there was a tracker and assumed that there was none.

“The truth is that there is nothing hidden under the sun. I was actually planning to retire since I have built a house and trained all my kids in the university.”

The eldest of the three, Lekan, 73, revealed that he started the business in the 70s. “I am a car dealer and along the line, my business started dwindling. I realised that I could make quick money by selling stolen cars. I have just been lucky that the cars that were sold to me all these years have not been traced to me. I guess one of the reasons is that I was dealing with adults who I met in the 80s.”

Confirming their arrest, the state police command spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation. He, however, warned that no matter how long it takes, security operatives will surely catch up with anyone who decides to engage in criminal activities.

 BY CHIOMA IGBOKWE of The Sun