Unholy wedding: Police pluck groom from registry

It must be true what they say that you can run from the law, but you can’t hide. This proved to be true for a suspected member of a notorious robbery gang, Olumide Asiyanbi, as he ran for so long, but the law caught up with him on the day he had set aside to exchange marital vows at a marriage registry in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Asiyanbi presently in the custody of the Oyo State police command said he joined the gang a year ago and that he had taken part in 10 robbery operations during which he fired gun shots at their victims.

“I was arrested on my wedding day. I met the gang leader, James Agba, last year. He told me that he knew how we could be getting regular money. He then initiated me into the gang. I have taken part in at least 10 operations since I joined them.

“We used gun but I don’t know where James was buying them. Sulaimon and Alhaji, who are also in the gang, know how the guns were bought for our operations. I have fired shots at our targets but none was killed,” he said.

Another gang member simply identified as Agba who hailed from Delta State said he purchased some of the guns from one Emeka in Abuja.

But Asiyanbi, who hails from Ile-Ife in Osun State, said he was at the marriage registry when the long hands of the law caught up with him. He was suspected to be a member of a six-man-robbery gang who operated in Challenge area of Ibadan on April 23, 2015.

Speaking on the development, the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Katsina, said the robbers, which included a 62-year-old Ghanaian, had terrorised many residents of the area with guns and other weapons.

The Ghanaian, Joseph Mate, said he was a security man in Ajibade area of Ibadan and that he had been living in Nigeria for many years. The commissioner said all the suspects would be charged to court

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