YOU SAID IT ALL, YOU BE CORRECT ABA BOY!! I WITNESSED IT ALL FIRST HAND..

eagle,eye:

Please let me correct the bolded. Orji Uzor Kalu did not start Bakassi Boys.
Bakassi Boys started wheen criminal elements like the different group of Aba Mafians were terrorising the Ariaria Shoemaker boys who normally stay at a place they call Bakassi near Ariaria international Market. The Mafian Boys were terrorising the whole of Aba and not just the shoemaker boys. Infact, the shoemaker boys and some other business men at that time were paying Royalty/Levy to these Mafian boys.
But things got to a head and the Ariaria Shoemaker Boys and some other boys in Ariaria formed a kind of vigilante which later metamorphosed to the "dreaded" BAKASSI BOYS. The story we that was going around then (1998/1999) was that these Bakassi Boys went to a powerful medicine man to do a better charm for them. Then their leader was a crippled man.
After the battle at Water Side, Ogbor-hill. The Mafian boys started leaving town.
When Orji Uzor Kalu came in 1999, he decided to give the Bakassi Boys some 'legitimacy'. Which turned out to become the "Rise and Fall of the Bakassi Boys".
NB
I enjoyed your story about Dr Oyenusi. Carry Go bro.

victorazy:
Yep! Me too I remembered vividly when I was very small around 1985 when I was around 5yrs and in primary 1. one Ndubuisi was executed in our village in Umuahia, I still remember the shirt he was wearing and how he sang gospel songs through out that day in BlackMaria.

JB and is gang members were mostly from our area (offa-oyun).

Even a man was execute in my village i think in 1985.

Maximum Respect to my people from the wild wild west...

It's so very interesting. You are so good with words, Mr OP. Bless ya!

OP,are you a journalist? very well delivered. I suggest you sell this story to Nollywood. At least , it ll make much sense as against the rubbish that is being produced as films in Nigeria todayviz secondary school girls, azonto babes..etc. Good story line.

Nice post.
An educative exposition into history.

But I want to add a missing link.

Oyenusi did not die like a chicken as portrayed.
He was defiant to the end and long after others were silenced he
was still there on the stake holing tenaciously to life.
Eventually, it took 98 hot lead to silence him.

I know because the next day after the execution which was a
Sunday, the front page of Sunday Times, the most widely read weekly then screamed
"98 bullets to finish Oyenusi".

Nice Job though and what a refreshing way to start a Friday.

Nairaland, God blesses you for this story. It diffent from all ''aroba'' story i was told. Now i can tell my kids the real story

ђįşţoŗy įş ŋow ţęllįŋg ђįş şţoŗy

Sloan: This league of hard core thieves were Ibo, Yoruba and Edo / Benin of those days. Benson Iyamu was Edo, Anini Same. Oyenusi was Yoruba or so? There were also Ibos too and I can come back later with exact names. Capital punishment needs to be re-introduced for crimes like these, kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, high corruption, drug smuggling, oil bunkering, terrorism, gun running or smuggling, etc. Fraud must carry long jail terms of dozens of years and for big fraud, capital punishment with complete forfeiture of all assets. No plea bargains again.

What about the tribe bro? Tribe has nothing to do with crime, an individual is either a criminal or not.

I witnessed one public execution similar to this in Minna. some armed robbers that killed a popular politician called wachiko. i remember the leader of the gang was one hausa man with beards, clutching a quran and tafsir. there was another called sunday that had a gideon's new testatement on his breast pocket. very explosive scene. especially when then the soldiers emerged from bush. Fire! and at the first shot, sunday was the first to die.
didnt have any nightmare. we went home happily and chatted about it for days.

Bossforeva: ‘Doctor’ Ishola Oyenusi is a name etched in the history of Nigeria as one of the most violent armed robbers, a criminal who unleashed boundless terror on many Nigerians. But who was he and what did he do that his name was associated with so much notoriety?
The Nigerian Civil War had just ended in 1970 but by the early 1970s, a stone-hearted armed robber, Ishola Oyenusi (he called himself Dr. Oyenusi even if he never finished the secondary school), was terrorising all of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest commercial centre. Before one tale of his daring exploits died down, another one had sprung up. Oyenusi was no ordinary pilferer, this snitcher was downright wicked and had all the self-confidence in the world to go with it. And you know something? He was quite romantic and chivalrous. There was a story of how he snatched his first car on Herbert Macaulay Road in Yaba, Lagos. Why? His girlfriend was broke. He eventually sold the car for N400 but the sad part was that in the process of stealing the car, the poor owner was shot dead. He actually snatched the first car he saw on the road. Such was the ferocious nature of his audacity.
Oyenusi’s arrogance was also legendary. In 1970, he was arrested and handcuffed by a police officer. As the policeman was ordering him around, Oyenusi blasted him and thundered:
‘People like you don’t talk to me like that when I am armed. I gun them down.’
Hmmm, but that was not all. Oyenusi was so feared that when the famed movie director, Chief Eddie Ugbomah made a film titledThe Rise and Fall of Dr. Oyenusiin 1977,there was no one bold enough to come forward to act the role of the armed robber because they feared his members would show themshege.Ugbomah had no other option but to act the role himself with the feature film depicting the senseless violence of armed robberies and the absolutely atrocious manner by which lives of innocent Nigerians were snuffed out. But there was one interesting thing that happened: a medical doctor by the name of Dr. Oyenusi was so mad at the film producer that he headed for the court trying to stop the shooting of the movie.
Actually, Ugbomah was threatened. He received a letter from thieves who invaded and looted his provision store, carting away all they could. In the letter, they promised to return his goods if he would only stop shooting the film in which he exposed the support received by the armed robbers from their ‘godfathers’ and even high-ranking officers in the Nigerian Armed Forces. The stubborn Ugbomah called their bluff and went ahead with the 16mm-flick (kindly send us a clip of this film if you have one). Ugbomah would later produce many other films such asDeath of a Black President(1983),Esan (Nemesis), The MaskandVengeance of the Cultin 1985.Death of a Black Presidentwas about the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed(read all about him here>>> http://www..com /murtala-muhammed-nigerias- most-popular-leader/
In the 1970s, Oyenusi was no doubt the uncrowned emperor of Nigerian robbers and he is described as the ‘first celebrated armed robber in Nigeria’. He is regarded by some as the pioneer of conventional armed robbery in Nigeria. When Oyenusi reigned at the height of his regal confidence, he declared:
‘The bullet has no power.‘
As at that time, armed robbers were condemned to death and thousands joyfully came out to ‘enjoy’ the grisly public executions before the firing squad on the pristine beaches of Lagos. Although Nigeria no longer has very ‘famous’ bandits and thieves like Anini (at the age of 26, Lawrence Nomayagbon Anini was the most notorious robber in Nigeria), Babatunde Folorunsho, Monday Osunbor, Shina Rambo, Buraimoh Jimoh, Oyenusi, ‘Mighty Joe’, ‘Captain Blood’ and George Iyamu (a former Deputy Superintendent of Police who was Anini’s collaborator), armed robbery is nonetheless a major problem in the nation.
THE END
In March 1971, Oyenusi was nabbed by the Nigerian Police after he organized a robbery in which $28,000 (value as at that time) was stolen. They killed a police constable in the process. Although the first public execution of robbers had taken place in April 1971, that of Oyenusi and his criminal allies was a special case and the Lagos government took time to prepare the grounds at the Bar Beach.
By 8.am, officials were already at the execution arena to check the whole place just to ensure that everything went on ‘well’. A combined team of police officers and soldiers struggled to contain the surging crowd of thousands of excited spectators. At about 9.15 am, a team of Lagos City Council workers came to the execution arena with empty mock coffins which they calmly laid behind the execution stand. Obviously, they were there to make fun of a man who had sent so much terror into their hearts. About half an hour later, eight robbers were led to the execution stand…

Naawaa ooo no bi today it start ooo

fuke:
Nice post.
An educative exposition into history.

But I want to add a missing link.

Oyenusi did not die like a chicken as portrayed.
He was defiant to the end and long after others were silenced he
was still there on the stake holing tenaciously to life.
Eventually, it took 98 hot lead to silence him.

I know because the next day after the execution which was a
Sunday, the front page of Sunday Times, the most widely read weekly then screamed
"98 bullets to finish Oyenusi".

Nice Job though and what a refreshing way to start a Friday.

Now we all know newspapers have always applied sensationalism to sell their stories, it was most likely exaggerated.
Oyenusi was human like everybody, a single shot to the chest by a good marksman would have finished him off.

Also, no one ever said Oyenusi died a coward, the op said he smiled even while tied to the stake and he had pics to prove it.

Bossforeva: Continuation

sory 4d writers travil but i dnt agre wit hm after all nobody force am go their

Witwicky: Interesting !

what is interesting

Wow

Some executions were shown on TV in the early 90s.

I believe there are more violent and dare-devil armed robbers today than before though, these ones only gained prominence because of their era and manner of death.

its a pity to say that the apple didnt fall far from the tree,Anini's son didnt really turn out well. He is a die-hard cultist in UNIBEN now although no one knows who he really is

My guts tell me that GEJ will not make it to 2015, he's worse than those robbers.

Useless nigerian "leaders" are worse than oyenusi.

I've been searching for the video Of Anini even on youtube,still not seen it. Anini,Monday Osunbor,Iyama,Derico and the recent one Abiodun Ogunjobi aka Godogodo are the most famous robbers in Nigeria

dimples*:

zeelo2014: I've been searching for the video Of Anini even on youtube,still not seen it. Anini,Monday Osunbor,Iyama,Derico and the recent one Abiodun Ogunjobi aka Godogodo are the most famous robbers in Nigeria

Famous or notorious? Famous is positive. I think notorious is more like it.

nicholls2013: its a pity to say that the apple didnt fall far from the tree,Anini's son didnt really turn out well. He is a die-hard cultist in UNIBEN now although no one knows who he really is

Are you serious? A snake must give birth to its like. God have mercy.

Bossforeva: That's not popular in Nigeria, tis only popular in Crime Channel of DSTv. Anyway i've read of major crimes in the world, including how Versace was murdered so i dnt think tis heard of in Nigeria.

Is that what you think, or what you know for sure? FYI , There are many serial killers in Nigeria, some may be less sophisticated than what you see on dstv , but there are serial killers nevertheless . Eg Clifford Orji. Another reason , is that many of these killings are not reported, Nigeria is a huge Dustbin, corpses can be thrown away and never be found, and the inefficiency of the police system. Also, until recently, not much that goes on in Nigeria is actually documented or reported as news, even now, What we see is possibly about one hundredth of the news worthy issues in this country. Even in America, do u think everything is reported?

Really touching

kaffy4tope:


Come and hold me tight babes.

Lol!

But they did not die right

Coldfeet: Too long a letter you say? Wow! I didn't even want it to end! Op thanks for this piece! My dad told me this story years ago though not this detailed! He told me that it was his mother that he was scanning the crowd for. Thanks again for this! am making a copy of this ASAP.

why was he scanning the crowd for your dad's mother

Rejoice5000: Max story drop tears from my eyes.weaving his friend ad say don't worry.God this execution is not right,whosoever that will practice that his generations will be caused.i heard Delta gov passed that law,God its not right.life imprisonment is better.

eeeya. dont cry you hear.

And next time when you become so emotional, express yourself in vernacular.

Bossforeva: In the late 90s, Derico and his gang were also robbing bullion vans especially in Awka Road, Onitsha. At the end of the Operation they will take thier share and keep throwing many bundles to the people of the streets. None of Derico Sibling ever became somebody in life. They all died in robbery, Derico was like 21 when he died. I once met a man that knows Derico and his Family to heart after our Inter-house sport in the Lower Field of St Charles Secondary School Onitsha. He told us that the Only person surviving in their family was his Mum and last Child out of like Seven kids, the discussion was four years ago.

@Bossforeva, you attended St Charles' Secondary or Special Science? If yes, which year did you graduate? I attended St Charles Special Science 99 set.

Meanwhile, your article is sound and very enlightening.