Ismaila Adeyemi, one
of the suspects who is arrested for the murder of former winner of
Guilder Ultimate Search, Hector Jobarteh, has owned up to his
involvement in the crime.
According to Punch Metro, the suspect, 49-year-old Ismaila Adeyemi,
said he got a mobile phone from the valuables carted away from the
victim’s residence.
He said his brother, Usman Adeyemi, who had also been arrested,
helped him to sell the phone for N7,000, adding that he gave Usman
N2,000 from the sum.
It had been reported that some assailants had, on September 3,
2017, trailed 38-year-old Jobarteh to his house on Olufowora Close, New
Oko-Oba, Agege, from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja,
and shot him dead.
It was said the deceased had gone to pick his younger brother, who arrived from abroad, at the airport.
Apart from Ismaila and Usman, four other suspects, including an
Uber driver, who took the gang to the victim’s house, and the buyers of
the phone, had been apprehended.
Ismaila, who was paraded on Monday at the Lagos State Police
Command headquarters in Ikeja, told our correspondent that one Nonso, KK
and him stormed the house that Jobarteh’s lived on a robbery mission
that day.
The father of two children explained that a lady, who is still at
large, led them to the residence, adding that the deceased’s father was
shot in the attack.
He said, “I knew KK through Nonso, whom I worked with in a
filling station in Apapa some years back. I met Nonso about five months
ago and I gave him the address of where I live in Sango, Ogun State. KK
just came back from abroad that time.
“I did not know who the man was before the operation. On that
day, we parked at a filling station around his house and a lady came to
meet KK. After a while, he received a call from the lady and we saw the
man (Jobarteh) drove into the close.
“We followed him, but did not know where he entered. KK
approached a woman and lied to her that the man’s car hit his and he
sped off. He begged her to direct us to where the man entered and she
did. When we got into the building, we saw the car and met another lady
on the premises.
“KK asked the lady to lead us to the man’s apartment, but she
declined. It was when he pointed a gun at the woman that she complied
and took KK upstairs. He called us to come upstairs, but by the time we
got to a living room upstairs, he had shot the man’s father in the
hand.”
The native of Osogbo, Osun State said the gunshot prompted Jobarteh
to come out from a room to the living room, where KK immediately gunned
him down.
“I did not shoot at all, although I was holding a gun too. I
quarrelled with KK for shooting them, because our plan was just to rob.
He threatened to shoot me and I kept quiet. It was a pair of shoes and
flowers that were in the bag we collected from him. We didn’t find money
there.
“I took away only his white handset while KK went with the bag.
I gave the phone to my brother, Usman, to help me sell it. He said he
sold it for N7,000. I collected N5,000 and gave him N2,000,” he added.
However, the state Commissioner of Police, Edgar Imohimi, who paraded Adeyemi, said he shot the GUS winner.
He added that the command would not stop until other suspects involved in the murder were arrested.
Imohimi said, “I am glad to announce to you that after weeks of
extensive manhunt, the principal suspect, Ismail Adeyemi, who pulled
the trigger that killed the victim, has been arrested and he confessed
to the crime.
“He also admitted to other various criminal activities within
the state. The suspect led operatives to Sango Gasline, Ijoko, where his
operational revolver pistol with nine rounds of live ammunition was
recovered.”
Briefing journalists on the recent operations of the command across
the state, the CP explained that 19 suspected armed robbers,
terrorising residents of Ogombo, Sangotedo, Elemoro, Ikota, Ajah
communities, among others, had been arrested.
“Within the period under review, 11 vehicles of different
brands stolen at gunpoint from Lagos State and sold at Enugu State were
tracked and recovered from hoodlums. Ten suspects, who specialise in
robbing victims at gunpoint and driving the vehicles to Enugu State with
forged number plates, were also arrested. The police recovered six
vehicles and returned them to Lagos State.”
Names of the suspects were given as Abomi James, 34; Omokaro Efe,
48; Joseph Uzuazomaro, 31; Chukwudi Onyemara, 27; Malvin Umeh, 33; Nisma
Uttah, 33; Samuel Shokumbi, 34; Ahmed Waheed, 33; Agustine Uchenna, 47
and 39-year-old Udoh Benedict.
“Members of the public who are victims are hereby advised to
come to the command and check the vehicles for possible identification.
The vehicles are Toyota Camry with number plate, FKJ 715 ES; Toyota
Camry, FGG 636 MC; Toyota Matrix, EPE 429 DJ; Mercedes Benz Formatic,
KRD 68 ES; Acura MDX, EKY 534 BX; Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla, among
others,” the CP added.