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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Crime / A True Story Of Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini. (1095 Views)
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A True Story Of Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini. by Munzy14(m): 4:03pm On Apr 18, 2017 |
Anini was born in a village about 20 miles
from Benin City in present-day Edo State.
Anini, dreadfully called ‘The Law’ or ‘Ovbigbo’.
He migrated to Benin at an early age, learned
to drive and became a skilled taxi driver. He
became known in Benin motor parks as a man
who could control the varied competing
interests among motor park touts and
operators. He later dived into the criminal
business in the city and soon became a driver
and transporter for gangs, criminal godfathers
and thieves. Later on, he decided to create
his own gang which included, Monday
Osunbor, Friday Ofege, Henry Ekponwan,
Eweka and Alhaji zed zed or Zegezege who
was never captured. They started out as car
hijackers, bus robbers and bank thieves.
Gradually, he extended his criminal acts to
other towns and cities far north and east of
Benin.
The complicity of the police is believed to
have triggered Anini’s reign of terror in 1986.
In early 1986, two members of his gang were
tried and prosecuted against an earlier under-
the-table ‘agreement’ with the police to
destroy evidence against the gang members.
The incident, and Anini’s view of police
betrayal, is believed to have spurred
retaliatory actions by Anini. In August, 1986, a
fatal bank robbery linked to Anini was
reported in which a police officer (Nathaniel
Egharevba)and others were killed. That same
month, two officers on duty were shot at a
barricade while trying to stop Anini’s car.
During a span of three months, he was known
to have killed nine police officers.
Anini’s exploits
In an operation in August 1986, the Anini
team struck at First Bank, Sabongida-Ora,
where they carted away N2,000. But although
the amount stolen was seen as chicken feed,
many persons were killed. On September 6,
same year, the Anini gang snatched a
Peugeot 504 car from Albert Otoe, the driver
of an Assistant Inspector General of Police,
Christopher Omeben. In snatching the car,
they killed the driver and went to hide his
corpse somewhere. It was not until three
months later that the skeleton of the driver
was spotted 16 kilometers away from Benin
City, along the Benin- Agbor highway. A day
after this attack, Anini, operating in a Passat
car believed to have been stolen, also
effected the snatching of another Peugeot
504 car near the former FEDECO office, in
Benin.
Two days after, the Anini men killed two
policemen in Orhiowon Local Government of
the state. Still in that month, three different
robbery attacks, all pointing to Anini’s
involvement, took place. They include the
murder of Frank Unoarumi, a former employee
of the Nigerian Observer newspapers; the
killing of Mrs. Remi Sobanjo, a chartered
accountant, and the stealing of the Mercedes
Benz car in Benin, of the Ughelli monarch, the
Ovie. Before September 1986 drew to a close,
Anini struck at a gas station along Wire Road,
Benin, where he stole a substantial part of the
day’s sales. He shot the station’s attendant
and gleefully started spraying his booty along
the road for people to pick. The height of
Anini’s exploits, however, took place on
October 1, 1986, the Independence Day when
the state’s Commissioner of Police, Casmir
Igbokwe was ambushed by the gang in Benin,
and nearly yanked off his nose in a hail of
bullets. The police boss survived the attacks
with serious injuries. Earlier that day also, the
Anini men had gunned down a police man
within the city
"The Law", as he was nicknamed, during an
operation that went bad had to escape from
the police by driving in reverse from Agbor
(Delta State) to Benin City (Edo State).Also,
on October 21 of same year, the Anini robbery
gang terminated the life of a Benin-based
medical doctor, A.O Emojeve when they
gunned him down along Textile Mill Road, in
Benin. Not done, Anini and gang went and
robbed the Agbor branch of African
Continental Bank and carted away about N46,
000. A day after the operation, Anini, The
Law, turned to a ‘Father Christmas’ as he
strew wads of naira notes on the ground for
free pick by market men and women at a
village near Benin. Anini’s image thus loomed
larger than life, dwarfing those of Ishola
Oyenusi, the king of robbers in the 1970s and
Youpelle Dakuro, the army deserter who
masterminded the most vicious daylight
robbery in Lagos in 1978, in which two
policemen were killed. Anini thus spearheaded
a four-month reign of terror between August
and December 1986. Anini also reportedly
wrote numerous letters to media houses using
political tones of Robin Hood-like words, to
describe his criminal acts.
Worried by the seeming elusiveness of Anini
and his gang members, the military President,
General Ibrahim Babangida then ordered a
massive manhunt for the kingpin and his
fellow robbers. The police thus went after
them, combing every part of Bendel State
where they were reportedly operating and
living. The whole nation was gripped with fear
of the robbers and their daredevil exploits.
However, Police manhunt failed to stop their
activities; the more they were hunted, the
more intensified their activities became. Some
of the locals in the area even began to tell
stories of their invincibility and for a while, it
felt like they were never going to be caught.
However, at the conclusion of a meeting of
the Armed Forces Ruling Council in October
1986, General Babangida turned to the
Inspector- General of Police, Etim Inyang , and
asked, ‘My friend, where is Anini?’.
At about this time, Nigerian newspapers and
journals were also publishing various reports
and editorials on the ‘Anini Challenge’, the
‘Anini Saga’, the ‘Anini Factor’, ‘Lawrence
Anini – the Man, the Myth’, ‘Anini, Jack the
Ripper’, and ‘Lawrence Anini: A Robin Hood in
Bendel’. The Guardian asked, emphatically, in
one of its reports: ‘Will they ever find Anini,
“The Law”?’.
His arrest
Finally, it took the courage of Superintendent
of Police, Kayode Uanreroro to bring the Anini
reign of terror to an end. On December 3,
1986, Uanreroro caught Anini at No 26,
Oyemwosa Street, opposite Iguodala Primary
School, Benin City, in company with six
women. Acting on a tip-off from the locals,
the policeman went straight to the house
where Anini was hiding and apprehended him
with very little resistance. Uanreroro led a
crack 10-man team to the house, knocked on
the door of the room, and Anini himself, clad
in underpants, opened the door. “Where is
Anini,” the police officer quickly enquired.
Dazed as he was caught off guard and having
no escape route, Anini all the same tried to
be smart. “Oh, Anini is under the bed in the
inner room”. As he said it, he made some
moves to walk past Uanreroro and his team.
In the process, he shoved and head-butted
the police officer but it was an exercise in
futility. Uanreroro promptly reached for his
gun, stepped hard on Anini’s right toes and
shot at his left ankle. Anini surged forward
but the policemen took hold of him and put
him in a sitting position. They then pumped
more bullets into his shot leg and almost
severed the ankle from his entire leg. Already,
anguished by the excruciating pains, the
policemen asked him, “Are you Anini?” And he
replied, “My brother, I won’t deceive you; I
won’t tell you lie, I’m Anini.”
He was from there taken to the police
command headquarters where the state’s
Police Commissioner, Parry Osayande, was
waiting. While in the police net, Anini who had
poor command of English and could only
communicate in pidgin, made a whole lot of
revelations. He disclosed, for instance that
Osunbor, who had been arrested earlier, was
his deputy, saying that Osunbor actually shot
and wounded the former police boss of the
state, Akagbosu
Anini was shot in the leg, transferred to a
military hospital, and had one of his legs
amputated. That was after Monday Osunbor
was also captured. When Anini’s hideout was
searched, police recovered assorted charms,
including the one he usually wore around his
waist during “operations”. It was instructive
that after Anini was captured and
dispossessed of his charms, the man who
terrorised a whole state and who was
supposed to be fearless suddenly became
remorseful, making confessions. This was
against public expectation of a daredevil
hoodlum who would remain defiant to the
very end.
Revelations on Iyamu,
others
Shortly after the arrest of Anini and co, the
dare-devil robbers began to squeal, revealing
the roles played by key police officers and
men, in the aiding and abetting of criminals in
Bendel State and the entire country. Anini
particularly revealed that Iyamu, who was the
most senior police officer shielding the
robbers, would reveal police secrets to them
and then, give them logistic supports such as
arms, to carry out robbery operations.
He further revealed that Iyamu, after each
operation, would join them in sharing the loot.
It was further exposed how Iyamu planned to
kill Christopher Omeben, an Assistant
Inspector-General of Police in charge of
Intelligence and Investigation. But Iyamu was
later to be disappointed as the assailants
dispatched to eliminate Omeben were only
able to kill his driver, Otue, a sergeant. Iyamu,
whom the robbers fondly referred to as ‘Baba’,
reportedly had choice buildings in Benin City;
being how he invested the loots he obtained
from men of the underworld
Trial and execution
Due to amputation of his leg, Anini was
confined to a wheelchair throughout his trial.
Iyamu, on his part, denied ever knowing and
collaborating with Anini, but Anini The Law
furiously retorted, “You are a shameless liar!”
Anini had accused him before Justice James
Omo-Agege in the High Court of Justice, off
Sapele Road in Benin City. Of the 10 police
officers Anini implicated, five were convicted.
The robbery suspects, including Iyamu, were
sentenced to death.
But in passing his judgement, Justice Omo-
Agege remarked, “Anini will forever be
remembered in the history of crime in this
country, but it would be of unblessed memory.
Few people if ever, would give the name to
their children.” Their execution took place on
March 29, 1987. |
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