The suspect arrested with a Ghana-made triple barrel gun in Iseyin town, Oyo State, Ajibola Ibrahim (32) a.k.a. Scorpion, has denied the allegation of motorcycle stealing brought against him, saying that he turned a new leaf after his last arrest and was working as a political thug when he was arrested.
Crime Reports Ajibola’s was accused of stealing motorcycles and shooting one of the owners when accosted. The triple barrel gun was said to have been recovered from him.
Ajibola, an indigene of Iseyin town, admitted that the gun was found on him but said that it was meant for his current job as a political thug, not robbery. He added that his accusers were only trying to implicate him because of his criminal past.
In an interview with Crime Reports, Ibrahim, who said he left prison about six months ago, disclosed that he was an ardent marijuana smoker and started taking the banned drug since 2004.
“It is true I was an armed robber but after I was arrested and remanded in prison in 2011, I made up my mind to stop. It was my friend who took me to Igbojaye village where we were suspected by the villagers. I rode one of the two motorcycles we took there. We were arrested with two motorcycles. I knew our gang leader then, Lanre Ekwueme, in Iseyin, though he was from Akure, Ondo State. We also had two guns.
“SARS operatives stormed our hideout in the night and arrested two of us while our leader, Lanre, was gunned down when he tried to escape. I was remanded in prison custody and only came out about six months ago. The case was struck out.
“Since I came out of prison, I have been following a politician as a thug. I have been working for one of the gubernatorial candidates (names withheld) in Oyo State. One of his boys, popularly called Alubarika Risler, is the one in change of coordination of the activities of the thugs working for the candidate. Anytime there was going to be campaign in any part of the state, Alubarika would call us and we would come to Ibadan to join the campaign train.
“On the recent case, I did not steal any motorcycles. I was only roped in because the Iseyin people knew my history and believed that I was still a dangerous person.
“On Saturday, January 10, 2015, I travelled from Lagos to Iseyin to attend a carnival taking place in our town. The gubernatorial candidate I was working for had a campaign rally in Ibadan on Monday, January 12, so my intention was to go to Ibadan on Sunday after the Iseyin rally, to prepare for the rally.
“Before I came to Ibadan, Alubarika came to me in Lagos. He had five guns with him, out of which he gave me one with three live cartridges. They were all new and he told me he just bought them. He said I should always have the gun with me anytime we would be going for campaign.
“After disembarking from the vehicle that brought me from Lagos, I mounted a bike to get to the centre of Iseyin town, only to be stopped at a point by some people who said they suspected me. They searched me and found the gun I had on me. They said robbers came to the town to take their bikes and they were waiting to see if they would try to take the bikes out of the town through the route I came in. They even disclosed that one of them was shot by the armed robbers in the early hours of same day.
“When I looked at the people around, I saw some of those who knew I had a criminal case in the past and I believed that they were the ones who pointed at me as a suspect. They started beating me and took the gun, my phone, cash (about N74,000) and my gold chain. They took me to Iseyin police station from where I was transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Dugbe, Ibadan. I was not caught with any bike and I did not shoot anyone.”
Ibrahim said he was ignorant of the fact that it was criminal to possess a gun unlawfully.
“My parents warned me against going contrary to the law but I am a stubborn person. This is the result of stubbornness. My past deeds are still haunting me.”
He revealed that he was called Scorpion “because of my prowess in subduing stubborn cows. I also trained in boxing, so I have always been known as a tough guy.”