Members of a robbery syndicate which is also involved in sale of stolen vehicles have revealed how they worked together from the point of robbery in Nigeria, to the conveyance of the stolen vehicles through the Republic of Benin to a foreplanned destination in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The stolen vehicles end up being sold in the Burkinabe capital, and they remain untraceable through forged documents and number plates of a Francophone country. This development has opened the eyes of security agencies to a huge transnational crime being committed in West Africa.
The five suspects were arrested by the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) of the Oyo State Police Command, one after the other, with the latest made on Tuesday, August 25, at about 4a.m. They were identified as Kabiru and Adewale, who carried out the last operation in Kwara State between the night of Monday, August 24 and the early hours of Tuesday, August 25; and three others – Aliu a.k.a Ijaodola, Matthew and Akodu – whose roles were to drive the stolen vehicles from one point to another till they would be taken across the nearest border to their final destination.
The VCRU was established by IGP Olatunji Disu as a major structural reform that replaced and upgraded the former Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) nationwide.
It was gathered that prior to the arrest of Kabiru and Adewale, the VCRU had apprehended Akodu, Matthew and Aliu following a story published by Saturday Tribune on August 8 about another set of suspects – Star Boy and Co., who gave them a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV to sell after they had stolen in one of their armed robbery operations.
Coincidentally, the Commissioner of Police, Oyo Command, Olugbenga Abimbola, received a report from Kwara State on August 24 that an armed robbery gang attacked a woman and her husband, tied them up and stole her Lexus 350, 2017 model with registration number Lagos KJA 997 KF, and other valuables at gunpoint at her residence in Ilorin, Kwara State. Not only that, they also allegedly forced her to transfer N4 million from her account.
Following the information that the robbers were heading towards Oyo State with the stolen vehicle, CP Abimbola directed a team of VCRU operatives, led by the Commander, to move swiftly to Ibadan-Ilorin expressway to lie in wait for possible recovery of the Lexus SUV and arrest of the suspects. Their efforts yielded success on Tuesday, August 25, at about 4am, when the operatives sighted the vehicle and waved it to a stop, but the occupants abandoned it and fled in different directions to escape arrest. The operatives however went after them, during which one of the suspects sustained bullet wound in his left foot. When interrogated, the suspects identified themselves as Kabiru Abobarin, aged 36, and Adewale Abiola, 33 years old.
Recovered from them along with the vehicle were four HP laptops, one iPhone 15 Promax X and a bag containing seven wrist watches and some jewelry. Saturday Tribune gathered that after every robbery operation, other members of the syndicate would play their roles. While Bashiru, Adewale and others at large would carry out the robbery operations, Matthew would collect the stolen vehicle and take it to Aliu, a Baruten indegene of Kwara State who resides in Parakou, Republic of Benin. Then, Aliu would drive it to the border between Nigeria and Republic of Benin in Seme, with ECOWAS documents already prepared to make it look as if he just brought the vehicle to Nigeria for personal reasons. At the border, he would fix the registration number plate of the neighbouring country to the vehicle and hand it over to those who would take it to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, where a receiver identified simply as Mohammed resides. And that would render the vehicle untraceable.
Investigation by Saturday Tribune also revealed that the arrested suspects were ex-prison inmates. One of them, Matthew, was released only in March 2026, same with Aliu and Akodu. Akodu had been arrested and paraded in Oyo Police Command several times. Stories of his parade had been published by the Nigerian Tribune. He had been charged to court and remanded in prison for car theft and membership of an armed robbery syndicate. Following his last arrest in 2019, it was learnt that Akodu regained freedom towards the end of 2025.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo Command, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, who spoke on the arrest of the suspects, said that they were members of transnational and organised criminal networks involved in the trafficking vehicles stolen in Nigeria across the border for sale in foreign countries, until a successful intelligence-led operation by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU).
Akodu was again recently arrested following the confessions of apprehended suspects, led by Afeez a.k.a Star Boy, whose gang’s story was published in Saturday Tribune on August 8. In his confession, Star Boy had disclosed that after robbing a resident of Ibadan of his Hyundai Santa Fe and other belongings, he and other gang members linked up with Akodu and handed the vehicle over to him. Akodu, in turn, gave it to Matthew who linked up with Aliu and handed it over. From the point of handing over, Aliu took the vehicle to a designated spot at the Seme border, from where it was taken to Burkina Faso. About 10 victims had come forward to the VCRU to volunteer statements on their experiences in the hands of the suspects during robbery operations carried out in their residences.
Following Star Boy’s confession, Saturday Tribune gathered that the VCRU operatives started tracking Akodu and eventually arrested him. He was used to track Aliu and Matthew who were also later apprehended. The arrest of the suspects, it was further learnt, had led to the discovery of their connection with the Kwara armed robbery suspects, leading to their arrest on August 25.
Saturday Tribune interviewed the suspects and they narrated their involvement in crime. Kabiru, aged 36, disclosed that he met Aliu in Oyo prison where he was remanded for allegedly robbing and dispossessing a man, Tunji Alaso, in Oyo, of his Toyota Highlander and other valuables at gun point. He said he was released in May 2026.
Kabiru narrated: “I was into furniture making, but late in 2023, I came from Lagos to operate in Oyo Town. Bashiru was our gang leader. I knew him at Orile Iganmu in Lagos where I went to school. He was the one who introduced me to armed robbery. I had approached him to help me because my furniture business was not thriving. He is much older than me. He introduced his robbery operations to me, encouraging me to join him. He started taking me to robbery operations. He would invade a victim’s residence, armed with a jack.
“One day, three of us – Bashiru, Biola and I – left Lagos for Oyo Town for an operation in 2023. Then, we attacked a victim in his house at midnight and took away his Toyota Highlander car to Lagos. I got N2.8 million as my share after it was sold by Bashiru.
“I was later arrested, charged to court in 2024 and remanded in prison for car theft. I was released by the judge when the complainant was not coming to court.”
He said that he returned to crime after regaining freedom because he had nowhere to go as his personal house at Badagry Road had been sold by one of his two wives who gave birth to four children for him, in order to cater for them. “I had two wives and four children, but they left after my arrest. I linked up with Aliu whom I met in prison and we planned the Ilorin operation that later boomeranged.
“I was in Lagos when Aliu called me to go to Ilorin and pick a car and take it to Ibadan. He told me the vehicle was stolen. This was the first operation I did with him. In Ilorin, I met with two other gang members at about 10p.m. They were brought by a bike man. That was the first time I saw them. I also saw a gun with them. At midnight, they entered into the victim’s compound and spent about 40 minutes before they returned to open the gate for me. I was in the sitting room while the two others went to the bedroom of our victims. The role I was given by Aliu was to drive the vehicle from the scene. I was given the car key and a bag containing some stolen items. I was also given a phone used in tracking the car, to hand it over to the person I would give the vehicle to. So I drove out and left others behind.
“Unknown to me, however, the person I was supposed to drop the car with had already been arrested by the police. I was arrested at the bridge in Ojoo area.”
In his own narration, Adewale, who hails from Epe in Lagos State, said: “Kabiru was like an area brother to me. He used to help me in times of need. Recently I saw him in a bar and he said he just returned from a journey. I didn’t know he had been in jail. About a week ago, I told him I had no money and he said he knew a car dealer who sells cars, and that there’s a car he was going to drive from Ilorin to Ibadan. He asked if I could go with him. I agreed to go with him since the transport fare would not be paid by me. When we got to Ilorin, I was dropped at Geri Alimi at about 8p.m. and told to wait for his return from where he was going to pick the vehicle. My belief was that it was bought from a car dealer. When Kabiru returned at about 1a.m., I was angry with him but we still left for Ibadan. On arrival at Ibadan, Kabiru told me that the person who would collect the vehicle from him was nearby. I casually got down from the car and had just brought out my phone when I heard gunshots. I thought the police were just shooting at thieves as we see in movies, so I decided to run. A bullet brushed past me and I fell. Then, I saw that it was the police. I raise up my arms. I kept asking: ‘what happened?’ It was when I got to the police station that I knew about the situation. I didn’t know anything about the operation. Kabiru even told the officers that I knew nothing. He only asked me to follow him.”
The third suspect, Aliu a.k.a Ijaodola, admitted that he was arrested for being a syndicate member involved in the purchase of stolen vehicles. He said: “I was a driver plying Nigeria-Benin Republic border route. One day, I picked up a passenger, whom I later knew as Mohammed, who asked whether I could be helping him to bring in vehicles from Nigeria. I answered in the affirmative. I didn’t initially know that he was dealing in stolen vehicles. The vehicles were usually parked beside a fence or just by the roadside at Seme border. I eventually knew the secret behind the vehicle conveyance on a day I ran into trouble.
“I was not working with him directly. I would collect the vehicle from one Alhaji Rasheed, who was living in Saki, Oyo State and take it to the Nigeria-Benin Republic border where it would be picked by other syndicate members who would then take it to Mohammed in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. My reward for each job was usually between N100,000 and N700,000.”
According to Aliu, the vehicles that one of the suspects, Matthew, had helped him to convey included a Lexus SUV, a Toyota Corolla, a Toyota Sienna and Hyundai Santa Fe. “Matthew got N200,000 from the Hyundai vehicle while he took the Corolla because it was in a bad condition. I can’t remember the amount he was given as his share in the sale of the Lexus SUV and we had yet to get any money for the Sienna.”
Speaking on returning to crime shortly after he left prison where he had spent six years, 56-year-old chronic Akodu, cried: “I had decided to stop my misdeeds. Even, when I was called concerning a Toyota Camry (Muscle) and a Honda Crosstour, I told the syndicate members that I was no longer interested. I warned them not to call me again.”
Akodu spoke about how he worked with Star Boy’s gang in May this year, when a Hyundai Santa Fe was handed to him: “I was called in May by Star Boy and his gang members. They asked where I was, and I told them I was at home. They asked me to meet them at Molete area, that they had a vehicle to hand over to me for sale. It was at about 8a.m. I didn’t follow them for robbery operation. When it was handed over to me, I took it to one Emma. Aliu called me while I was with Emma, and I told him of the available vehicle meant for sale. He sent Matthew to pick the vehicle, for which he paid N1.8 million almost a month after. We shared the money and I got N300,000. One of Star Boy’s gang members, Abeeb, got N800,000 while others involved shared the rest.”
He confirmed his arrest and remand in the prison in 2017 for three weeks before his bail condition was perfected, and also in 2019 when he detained until 2025, because his family had initially refused to help as they had become tired of his attitude.
Matthew, who gave his age as 30, but whose mother said was 28, and hails from Ibadan, confessed to driving vehicles to syndicate members: “My role was to collect the vehicles from armed robbers and hand them over to a transnational syndicate member called Aliu. I knew the other syndicate members were committing armed robbery and dispossessing victims of their vehicles.”
He disclosed that he had been remanded in prison twice. He told the reason: “I am a mechanic. The first time, in 2022, I stole a part of the vehicle brought to me for repairs and was arrested and charged to court. I spent six months at Agodi Custodial Centre in Ibadan before a lawyer helped me to meet my bail condition.
“Less than a year after, I was returned to prison, but this time in Osun State. What happened was that I accommodated two fellow ex-inmates, Jamiu and Damson, when they were released from prison. I did this because they were good to me when we were there together. I didn’t know that they were so bad. They went for another criminal activity and were arrested. When interrogated, they told the police that I was the one who used to drive them to robbery operations. The police came from Osun to arrest me in Ibadan. Actually, they didn’t tell me they were going for robbery. I just dropped them at a spot and left.
“This year, the case was struck out because I told the magistrate hearing the case that I knew nothing about the offence committed. The case of others was taken to the high court.”
How I met Aliu
“I got Aliu’s number from Owolabi, a fellow ex-inmate in Osun Custodial Centre, who told me that he used to bring in vehicles from Cotonou in Republic of Benin for sale and also buy from Nigeria. I was not initially told that they were stolen vehicles. I used to hold conversations with Aliu when I was in prison. When I regained freedom, I informed him. He told me that I would be helping him to convey vehicles sold to him to designated points. Initially, he didn’t tell me that they were stolen vehicles, but I later knew when he directed me to Akodu.”
He said that the vehicle his mother saw with him was given by one Segun, his friend, whom he knew through fellow ex-inmates and who told him he wanted to sell it. “Segun disclosed that the car was stolen and I started using it,” Matthew said.
Matthew also confessed to going to a place at Adetokun area in Ologuneru in Ibadan where he, Abu and Waris, burgled a restaurant and stole a Toyota Sienna parked there.
He said the place was not pointed out by anyone, as the victim suspected. Rather, Abu and Waris were just roving, looking for where to strike when they noticed a plasma TV in the lit store that could be seen clearly from outside. “We stole items in the store and also took away the Toyota Sienna which I handed over to Aliu to sell. We went there in the early hours of the day,” Matthew stated.
He also spoke about a Toyota Corolla which he found on a road side and which was in a bad condition. “I took it to some people in Ilorin, Kwara State where it was dismantled and sold in parts. I got N400,000 as my share. I got N300,000 for the Lexus SUV I took to Aliu,” he said. He also confessed to working with two different armed robbery gangs.
On why he joined a robbery syndicate, the suspect said he had nothing after leaving prison. When reminded of his mother’s claims that she took him in on his return from prison and her fruitless efforts to help him readjust, Matthew only said he had told his gang that he was no longer interested in crime.
The victim of the Ologuneru robbery, identified simply as Victor, told Saturday Tribune of his experience: “I do logistics business and hire my vehicle to people that have need of it. I used to park it at the back of my wife’s restaurant and usually put the key in the restaurant for easy access by my drivers because of anyone who might need it. We did the same that Sunday.
“The following morning, a neighbour ran to our house and told us that the restaurant had been burgled. We also ran there and saw the window broken in a clever and unimaginable way because the iron burglary was very strong. We got in and saw the devastation. They took away my plasma TV, motor spare parts, foodstuff and other things. I didn’t quickly notice that they went with my vehicle until it suddenly dawned on me to check. When I did, it had disappeared. Then, I knew that part of me had been damaged. It was the worst day of my life. Before the incident happened to me, I used to pity thieves and would stop if saw one about to be mobbed to plead for them to be handed to the police. Now, me being a victim is so saddening.”
He said he initially reported at Eleyele before proceeding to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku. He told Saturday Tribune that he bought the vehicle for N10 million which he paid in instalments from July to November 2025 beofre it was released to him. He added that he purchased four new tyres for the vehicle. Matthew was said to have sold it for N1 million!
The Oyo CP, who commended the operatives for their prompt response, professionalism and effective utilisation of actionable intelligence, directed that the investigation be intensified towards identifying and arresting other members of the syndicate. Saturday Tribune learnt that two of the suspects had been returned to Kwara State Police Command where they committed the crime.
