Suspected robber stripped, beaten to stupor in Lagos

A suspected robber, Dare Animashaun, was last Saturday stripped naked and beaten to a stupor by an irate mob after a failed operation.
Animashaun, who claimed to be 19 years old is a member of a two-man gang that specialises in robbing innocent residents at dawn in the Agbelekale area of Abule Egba, a Lagos suburb.

The duo had robbed a number of passers-by on the Ekoro-Abule Road until about 5: 40 a.m when they robbed one Hope Osa of his handsets and undisclosed cash at gun point.
Instead of giving up his valuables easily to the robbers, Hope summoned courage and gave the fleeing robbers a hot chase shouting ‘’;thief, thief’’ without any help from passers-by.

As a decoy, the robbers too were said to have shouted ‘thief, thief to confuse bystanders as to who the real thief was.
By the time they got to Omi Ata bus stop along the road, Animashaun’s partner who was holding the gang’s locally made pistol had bolted leaving him behind.

Chased by the victim to Adeniyi Street, the suspect jumped into a building on the street while Hope raised the alarm that attracted residents, who combed the houses and smoked out Animashaun out of a toilet where he was hiding.
The angry residents punched, kicked and slapped the suspect before tying him to a stake after stripping him naked.

It took the intervention of some community leaders to save him from being lynched to death by irate youths in the area.
Speaking with The Nation, at the scene, Hope said: ‘’I am a trader at Katangowa Market in Abule Egba. This morning left home home very early
In order to get to the market on time but I ran into the two-man gang at Ekoro Junction. One of them flashed a torch at me and before I knew what was happening he brought out a gun while his partner asked me to bring out my money and phones. I told them that I had no money on me and this suspect (Animashaun) rough handled me and removed my phones and money from my pocket and they fled.

‘’ I did not know how I gathered the courage to pursue them as they fled on foot on the Agbelekale-Ekoro Road. As I ran after them I was shouting ‘’thief, thief’’ but passers-by did not come to my aid until one of the robbers bolted but I kept pursuing this one (Animashaun) and when he knew that I was unrelenting he jumped into a building on this street following which I raised the alarm that attracted residents.

‘’He was brought from a toilet where he was hiding by occupants of the building and some youth leaders in this area.’’
The suspect pleaded for leniency at the stake where he was tied saying: ‘’My hands are bended and would serve no useful purpose for me again. Please untie me, I will cooperate with you. I have lost the phone we collected from our victim while I was trying to escape by jumping into a building.’’

A cross section of residents said a gang of robbers had been terrorising the neighbourhoods lately.
They recalled how one Sulaiman, a commercial motorcycle operator popularly called okada was robbed of his motorbike and killed by robbers who posed as passengers.
A resident, Akinola Oluwafemi said: ‘’Not a few people have been robbed at dawn by these suspects. They would attack innocent residents at dawn especially workers who usually set out in the early hours.
‘’About one month ago, the same two-man gang robbery gang and killed an okada rider called Sulaiman by smashing his head with a big stone on Saubana Street,’’ he added.
The suspect was later handed over to a team of policemen from Meiran Division at about 8 a.m. and taken to their station.