The
sight of Kasali Adegoke will evoke sympathy from anyone. This because
he has deformed left hand while the left side of his body right from his
head bears burns scar. He also wears an innocent look of someone who
can not hurt a fly. But behind this mien is a deadly personality with
blood-stained hands. OLUWATOYIN MALIK writes about the confessions of the suspect regarding his operations in the world of crime.
KASALI Adegoke, popularly called Goke by his group, was the head of
an armed robbery gang which had been terrorising communities and towns
in the South West. His group took delight in killing policemen while
their operations lasted before they were arrested. Not only this, Goke
was very good at car-snatching that it became a kind of a hobby to him.
Even with his deformed hands, he was very good at handling weapons and
always operated with his AK 47 rifle.
As a notorious armed robber
with his base in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the State Police Command had
been on the lookout for him, and the Officer in Charge of Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Mohammed Tijani, a Superintendent of Police,
was put to task by the Commissioner of Police, CP Okoye Ikemefuna, to
put a stop to Goke’s activities.
Sunday Tribune gathered that
based on information received by the SARS that the robbery kingpin had
escaped to Benin Republic, the operatives, led by SP Tijani, went to lay
an ambush for him. Their efforts were said to have paid off when Goke
approached the operatives who disguised as immigration officers.
Immediately,
he approached their ‘checkpoint’ on an okada, the policemen grabbed
him, but knowing that he would be in trouble if he should be caught, the
suspect reportedly drew out a German pistol he went to buy in Cotonou
and tried to shoot his way out of the ambush. The SARS operatives
however halted him with a volley of shots on his legs. He crumbled under
the penetrating bullets.
When searched, the German pistol and
50 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from him. He was taken to
hospital for treatment. Since then, he had been singing like a canary in
the custody of the operatives. He took the police to his hideout at Iju
Ishaga while his confessions also led to the arrest of other gang
members such as Kamorudeen Mumuni a.k.a. Baba Owo and Lawal Waliu a.k.a.
Ijoba Devil.
He also lived an invincible life, or so he thought,
until he was arrested recently at Obele village between Nigeria and
Benin Republic. Goke, who was paraded recently at the Eleweran
headquarters of the state command, opened up to Sunday Tribune on his
exploits in the crime world. Below are his statements;
Beginning of crime journey
I started smoking
Indian hemp in 2005. I met a friend, Santos Shonowo, who used to steal
vehicles from parks with master key. I started working with him but each
time I went with them, our operation would not succeed.
“I later
met one Seyi at Sapon. He is from Owode in Ogun State. One day, he said
the Tokunbo car he was bringing in broke down and the tyres were shot
by the police, asking me to take money to them to release the car. He
did not open up to me that he snatched the car at gunpoint. I went to
Adigbe police station and was directed to Oke-Ilewo police station. It
was there I knew what was happening as I was arrested.
I was
transferred to Sango police station because that was where the car was
snatched from the owner. My people rallied round me and I later got my
freedom. After my return, I pleaded that Seyi should show me the way he
was working because I had already haboured such criminal thoughts. That
was how I started snatching car with him in 2008.
He was arrested
within the month I joined him so I stayed alone. I knew one Gbenga
‘Upho’ and Wale Poly who used to come to Seyi. Wale Poly brought a
robbery job to Seyi at Mowe. I did not follow them because they left
before me. They went to the house and got money. ‘Upho’ had one friend,
‘Let’s go’, and they both brought one local double barrel gun to me.
We
started going out on robbery operations. We stole one motorcycle and
started using it for ‘patrol’. ‘Upho’ met one Kazeem a.k.a. ‘Omo Iya
Eso’ and Gani a.k.a. Palaro. ‘Upho’ called me one day and we went for
robbery. Within that month also, he was arrested and sent to prison. He
called me from the prison and asked me to meet Kazeem and others so that
we could continue operation.
After ‘Upho’ was arrested, I went
to my brother in Ajah and stayed there for about eight months before
returning to settle at Owode-Idi Iroko. I met Nasiru a.k.a. Portugal who
linked me with Kazeem and Faith, a lady. We started snatching cars
since 2010. We operated within Abeokuta, Owode, Mowe, Toll Gate and
other areas but I have lost count of the vehicles we have snatched.
Something
happened between me and Faith and we had to share our guns. I got one
AK 47 rifle and two locally-made double barrel guns. I bought the AK 47
from Cotonou, Republic of Benin for N400,000. Kazeem and I were using
the guns that were my own share but we had no driver since Faith left to
be on her own. Kazeem had been in robbery for a long time. Kazeem
called me one day and introduced one Ejike whom he said was a good
driver, and one Tosin. We started operation in earnest and were
snatching cars.
How I met ‘Godogodo’
When Ejike came the third time, he brought
one Seun Dada and Baba Owo. Baba Owo just came back from ‘trouble’
(prison) but ran from his residence when policemen were after him for
re-arrest. The very day Baba Owo and Seun came, we operated in two
petrol stations in Mowe. One day, I was called that ‘Godogodo’’s gang
wanted to go and get a huge amount of money and was asked to join the
gang.
Whenever my gang members and I went for any operation, we used
to gather our loot and share but I was surprised that in ‘Godogodo’s
gang, members were taking things for themselves. When we finished the
operation, none of them put anything down so it was what I, Ejike,
Kazeem and Seun got that I shared among my gang members. I got N700,000
as my own share.
How we killed QRS operatives
We continued working
until SARS operatives came to burst our gang in Ifo, Ogun State. One
Seyi Aluko gave us a tip-off about a cold room at Oke-Ijeun area of
Abeokuta. Seyi was living in the area and he was on the lookout for us.
On
October 21, 2012, we went for the job but missed it because the owner
took the money away in a bucket shortly before our arrival. We left for
Mowe to operate but on our way, we saw two policemen. They were backing
us so we shot them and took their two AK 47 rifles. We could not carry
out our operation again so we went back to Abeokuta.
Seyi took us
to Ago-Oko area to rob a church and we hid somewhere in the early of
the day. He had earlier said he had once gone to the church with one
Segun a.k.a. Simple and they were able to get much money. When we got
there, I warned our gang members not to make noise but while they were
talking, the security men around the area heard us and came towards us.
My gang members fired shots and we moved to the church which Seyi said
we should invade.
I led Kazeem and some others inside the church
with my AK 47 rifle while Seun Dada, Ejike, Seyi and Tosin laid ambush
outside. It was then the Quick Response Squad drove into the area,
probably in answer to a distress call. My members outside started
shooting and by the time I got outside, I joined them. We killed the
policemen and took away their three AK 47 rifles, making five police
rifles that we got in a day.
(Goke’s story continues next week Sunday on his gang’s victims including members of a church and a VIO official).
I put the rifles in care of Ejike and Seun. I was called one day
again that we should go and work with Godogodo but I was thinking on how
to get my rifles from their custody. I used to keep my guns with a
herbalist at Iyana Cele, Abeokuta. At first, the herbalist rejected
being my armourer but I leaded with him. Eventually, he agreed and I
used to give him between N50,000 and N100,000, depending on how much we
make from operations.
I did not do any bullet proof charm because I
never got involved with the police. They never arrested me as they would
not see me and believe that I could be part of any robbery gang. I only
did charms that would make me obtain mercy from people and the one that
would bring money my way through our operations.
When I went to
Ejike’s group with two of my own members, they picked a quarrel with me
about my suggestion that I should keep the rifle magazines. That was how
we shared the guns. I retrieved my AK 47 that I bought initially and
got two AK 47 rifles from the five we got from the police, and one pump
action gun. I also got six loaded magazines.
That very week, Seun’s
group was arrested. Also SARS operatives bursted my group in Ifo same
week after we killed members of Baptist Church, Sango-Ota on November
24, 2012. That day, Ope and Seyi Aluko brought a job that there was a
man who had a lot of money at home.
Seyi was formerly with Wale
‘Officer’, Seun Dada and Seyi Chicago Koledowo but started moving close
to my gang when his own team broke up. He used to give us information on
where to go so that he could get his share too but all the jobs he
brought were always unsuccessful.
On the day of the operation, one of
the vehicles we snatched to operate with had a leaking silencer and the
noise was much. I decided that we should snatch another to replace it,
so we entered Ota town to get another car. I sighted a Honda Accord
beside a Baptist church. As I tried to make a u-turn, the driver of the
Honda car moved to enter the church.
As I got to him, he entered the
church but the other gang members in our second operational car moved
from behind me, entered the church and started shooting, saying that
they sighted policemen there. I didn’t know how many people were hit but
I later learnt that five church members died while three others were
serious injured. We took the Honda car away and left the one with
leaking silencer.
We headed for the place we were to go for operation
in Owode town but I was already troubled by what happened in the
church. We got to the house but I asked my gang to turn and we went back
to Ifo. We thought of how to get money so we decided to go to Mowe to
see if we could get car to snatch and rob petrol stations.
The
following day, November 25, SARS operatives came to Ifo to arrest us.
The Honda car was still with us as we were planning to use it for
robbery. I was able to escape that day because SARS operatives never
thought I could be an armed robber, though I walked past them. Others
were arrested.
The least number of policemen my gang has killed is
seven while I could not count the number of vehicles I have snatched. I
also got one AK 47 rifle from Godogodo in addition to the ones I had.
Godogodo was someone into whose face I could not look. That was why I
could not say anything when individual members of his gang were keeping
loot to themselves, contrary to what we used to do in my team.
However, Kazeem had known him for long so he was the one who spoke to
him before he gave me that gun out of the three AK 47 rifles he snatched
from the police during the operation I went with him. We killed two
policemen that day.
I knew about the bank robbery carried out by
Godogodo and other armed robbery gangs in Share, Kwara State on
September, 2012. I knew Alayinke and AK Pajero. Alayinke came to me
after SARS operatives got his members and recovered the guns he was
working with.
This was three days after I followed Godogodo to the
operation we carried out at bureau de change. Alayinke told me that they
needed two of my AK 47 rifles. I asked how they would get ‘food’
(ammunition) for them and he told me not to worry about that, saying
that some Igbo guys joining them for the operation had them in surplus
and would bring them in.
After the successful operation, Alayinke
called me when they came back and gave me N500,000 and one Mazda 626 car
which they snatched during the operation. He also returned my vehicles
to me.
(Goke’s story continues next week Sunday on his gang’s victims, vehicle receiver and operational methods)
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