39-year-old man, Ismaila Adeyemi, principal suspect in the murder of winner of 2006 Guilder Ultimate Search, GUS, Hector Jobarteh, yesterday, said Hector was killed in error.
The suspect, who also confessed to have been invited from Ibadan, Oyo State, to participate in the operation, disclosed that late Hector’s brother, who was returning from abroad, was the gang’s target.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, said Adeyemi was arrested after an extensive manhunt. According to him, “Ismail Adeyemi, who pulled the trigger that killed the 2006 GUS winner has confessed to the crime and admitted to other various criminal activities within the state.
“The suspect led operatives to Sango Gasoline, Ijoko, where his operational revolver pistol with nine rounds of live ammunition was recovered. The suspect and others earlier arrested will soon be charged to court.”
Confession
Speaking with Vanguard, the Osun State-born suspect, who was paraded alongside other robbery suspects arrested within two weeks in Lagos, disclosed that a member of his robbery gang in Ibadan, introduced him to the leader of the gang that stormed late Hector’s house.
His words: “We were four that carried out the operation. Keke led the gang. He did not tell me where we were going. He only spoke with Nonso a member of my gang in Ibadan, who introduced me to him.
“I was the only Yoruba man among them. Others were Igbo. We parked our operational vehicle at a filling station close to the street where we were going to operate. Later, a black-complexioned lady came and spoke with Keke in Igbo Language.
“She stayed with us for a while before leaving. Few minutes later, she called Keke on the phone to inform him that the vehicle in which our target was, was approaching. After the call the car drove past us into the street. But we lost sight of it before we could turn. “Keke approached a woman on the street and demanded to know the exact compound the car drove into. He lied to the woman that the vehicle in question broke our side mirror and drove off.
“The woman pointed down the street. Keke took time to check each compound until he saw the vehicle inside one of the compounds. He approached a lady in the compound and requested for the exact apartment of owner of the vehicle. “The lady only pointed upstairs, but refused to go with Keke.
At that point, Keke pointed a gun at her and ordered her to lead him upstairs. When he got there, he called two of us to join him. But when I went upstairs, I discovered he had shot an old man for refusing to cooperate with him.
Shot
“At that point, a young man rushed out of the room. He was coming towards his father, but Keke thought he was approaching him and, in defence, shot him (Jobarteh).
“Thereafter, we went inside and collected the bags that the returnee came with and left the scene. We drove to a hideout in Ijaye, where we opened the bag and discovered it contained just children canvass, flowers, boxers and personal effects. “I only got a white phone from the items, which I gave to my brother to sell.
He sold it for N7,000, out of which I gave him N2,000. So, I got only N5,000 from that operation. “The intention was never to kill the wrong man.
He was mistaken for the real target. The plan was to attack the man that was returning from abroad and shoot him if he puts up any resistance.
Even when Keke shot the old man, I was quarrelling with him and he almost shot me in the process. “I am a member of a robbery gang. We operate sometimes in Lagos, but mainly in Ibadan. I brought two guns from Ibadan for this operation. We were all armed on that day, but I never fired a shot.”
Other robberies
Some robbery operations he confessed to have participated in included that of a filling station in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, where he said he got N300,000 as his share of the loot.
Another was in Abule-Egba, Lagos, and a recharge card store in the same area. He said the phone stolen from late Hector’s house gave him away.
Vanguard gathered that when the suspect’s apartment was searched, the exact native attire he was described to have worn on the day of the operation was found.
However, Adeyemi said the description of the attire fitted that worn by Keke, who he claimed pulled the trigger on late Hector. He said: “Keke wore brown guinea brocade on a pair of jean trousers, while I wore a native also.
But I was not the one that fired the shot. I was arrested through the phone I took. “I don’t know how the Police traced the phone to the buyer, who in turn mentioned my brother as the person that sold it to him.”
