The operations of a suspected armed robber, Solomon Ayodele Solarin, who attacked and robbed students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) recently have been halted as a result of his arrest by policemen from Obantoko Division of the Ogun State Police Command.

Recovered from the suspect, who was said to be an ex-student of the same institution, were a locally-made gun, one short axe and assorted charms. Aside robbery, Solarin was also alleged of belonging to a cult group. He was reportedly rusticated from the institution in 2011.

This was revealed to Crime Reports on Wednesday, June 19, by the state Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye while briefing journalists on the efforts of the command towards controlling crime in the state.

According to Mr Okoye, on Thursday, June 13 at about 1a.m., Solarin went to Rock-Castle villa, a students’ hostel  in Surulere community at Camp, Abeokuta where the university is sited. He was said to have gained entrance into the hostel through the fence and allegedly robbed the students of their belongings including laptops, handsets and cash.

The one-man gang must have bitten more than he could chew as he was gripped while trying to take the stolen items away. The students were said to have summoned courage in spite of the gun the suspect was wielding, but he still managed to escape from them, abandoning his gun and handset.

The police commissioner said his men from Obantoko Division, on receiving the report, started working on the information at hand and eventually arrested Solarin through his phone. Mr Okoye  stated that the suspect had confessed to his crime and also admitted being a member of the Black Axe Confraternity also known as Aye. “When his house was searched, one short axe and assorted charms were aslo recovered in addition to the gun and handset he left behind at the hostel,” the police commissioner added.

In an interview with Crime Reports, 23-year-old Solarin from Emuren-Remo, Ogun State, said he could not understand why he engaged in robbery because his parents were comfortable.

“My father is dead but my mother is alive and lives at Iperu Remo. I robbed a camp hostel. I didn’t know what came over me that made me commit the act.” He added: “It is true I am a member of Black Axe Confraternity, a cult group I joined in 2011 at FUNAAB after I got an admission into the university in 2010. Those who initiated me into the cult group have graduated from the school.”

On how he was initiated, Solarin said he had no inkling that he was going to be made to join the group the night he was initiated, saying that he was just invited to a party. “At the party, I was drunk, and from there, I was taken to a jungle with one other guy and was initiated.”

Solarin added that he was not rusticated because of his cult activities but because of his low cumulative grade points (CGP).

Disclosing how he graduated from cultism to robbery, the suspect said he could not explain his action because his parents were well-to-do and comfortable. He further said that he got the gun that was recovered from him from a member of an opponent fraternity, Eiye Confraternity. “We had a clash with them and one of them wanted to shoot us. The gun did not work and in fear, he dropped the gun and ran away. I took the gun and kept it for myself. This robbery is my first attempt.”

The police commissioner hoever said that the supect would be charged to court after police investigations.

In a related development, the Commissioner of Police said that 150 armed robbery suspects had been arrested by his command between January 1 and June 18, 2013 while 24 robbery suspects were also killed within the same period.

He stated further that 74 arms and 557 ammunition were recovered, just as 131 vehicles were recovered. In addition, Okoye said 27 cultists, seven kidnappers and three rape suspects were arrested, with 1,153 suspects arrested for various offences.

Out of the cases, he said that 319 had been charged to court, with 23 convicted. Okoye also put the value of property recovered by his command as N55.3million.

He attributed the achievements of his command to the support of the general public and the media, saying that these were capable of sending signals to hoodlums to flee the state “as the police will always make the state uncomfortable for them.”

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