Drama recently played out at the
headquarters of the Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State
Police Command, Ikeja, when a suspected armed robber, Fuwad Azeez,
arrested by the police, who was said to have prepared protective charms
for members of the gang against bullets and knives, vehemently refused
to be used as a guinea pig to test the efficacy of the charms.
Azeez, son of a herbalist, was arrested on April 19, 2016 by
policemen attached to Denton Divisional Police for carrying arms in
public.
His arrest came after the leader of the gang, Kareem Idris alias
Aloma, led his team members, on a successful
robbery operation at Moonshine Hotel, Obalende on April 8, 2016, where
they carted away valuables and money from both workers and lodgers.
Following a tip-off, the police stormed the hotel and caught seven of
them while three others escaped. In the course of interrogation, at the
SARS office, Kareem Idris allegedly recounted how members of the gang
met on a football field with Azeez. They told him to prepare protection
charms for each member of the gang. Fuwad, 22, a native of Iseyin, Oyo
State, was said to have learnt the art of black magic from his father.
He promised to do a good job if they would allow him
join the gang. Having secured their approval, Fuwad made charms for
protection for every one of them against cutlasses, bullets, bottles and other dangerous weapons.
However, the drama played out when Sunday Sun asked which
member of the gang would like to test the potency of the charm against a
gunshot or a machete cut. All seven of them, including Fuwad, who
prepared the charm vehemently refused to be a guinea pig for the
purpose of testing the efficacy of the charm.
Kareem also said they had been stealing items like phones, laptops and other valuables for a long time, which they later sold.
Meanwhile, Ramon Sanusi, who is a foot soldier of the Eiye
Confraternity and an indigene of Ogun State who said that he started
stealing in 2012, revealed that through the money he got from robbery
operations, he had purchased four guns. As at the time of their arrest,
the gang members were caught with one locally made pistol, two live
cartridges and some of the charms made by the gang member.
However, investigations are ongoing while efforts have been doubled to track down the other members of the gang still at large