A thirty-two-year-old vulcaniser, Jelili Dimeji, has been remanded in prison custody for allegedly leading a 30-man gang to rob his neighbour, Oladipupo Audu, of property valued at N1,750,000.
The suspect and the victim live in Isheri Osun, in the Ijegun area of Lagos.PUNCH Metro learnt that Audu and a friend were driving on Ijegun Road when Dimeji and his gang member, who are still at large, waylaid them.
They were said to have snatched Audu’s Toyota Camry, dispossessed him of gold jewellery worth about N1,450,000 and a cash sum of N300,000. The car was later recovered at a junction by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad.
Audu told the police that the suspect cautioned his cohorts, who wanted to kill him because they (he and Dimeji) live in the same area.
He said, “My friend and I were going to buy a ram and foodstuffs around 5am on September 24 when we saw some men flagging down my car. They were about 30 in number. They wanted to kill me, but Jelili (Dimeji) cautioned them and told them we were brothers in the community.They collected my car, gold necklace, two gold rings a gold bracelet and a sum of N300,000. But the car has been recovered.”
He was subsequently arraigned on two counts of robbery by a police prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emuerhi, before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.