God warned me against robbery in my dream –Suspect

When Efe Ejiro left Warri, Delta State for Lagos, in February 2007, his intention was to learn a trade that would prepare him to take up the responsibility of taking care of his elderly mother and his siblings. Saturday Sun gathered that he is the first son of his parents.

 His ambition was fulfilled partially, when he met one Nasarawa, a Benoinise, who repairs oven. According to him, he signed an agreement for apprenticeship under Nassarawa. But few months after, Efe got what could be regarded as a dangerous offer from his master.

 One fateful day, Nassarawa travelled out of the city and when he returned home, he allegedly gave Efe a bag containing two locally made pistols and some live cartridges.

 Efe said he requested to know what he was to do with the weapons in the bag and his master told him to come up with the answer himself.
 As Efe was still thinking of what to do, Nassarawa provided the answer, and started tutoring him. He tried to convince him that repairing oven was no longer a lucrative business.

 Efe, who is now being detained at Ilupeju Police Station alongside two others over alleged botched robbery operation said: “Nasarawa told me that, if we must succeed in life, we should augment the oven repair with something else.”

 The suspect narrated how Nassarawa taught him how to operate guns and service them. He disclosed that few days after he concluded the training on how to operate guns, Nasarawa invited other members of the gang- Hamed, Henry, Seyi and Soji.

 According to him, Seyi was a commercial motorcyclist who arranged for three motorcycles, which they used for robbery operations. He said: “Our attacks were mainly on customers who were either, going to deposit money in the bank or make withdraws. Sometimes, we used master keys to open vehicle booths and stole money or laptops. At times, too, we moved around the city and snatched people’s bags and sped off on our motorcycles. We also operated in traffic. We simply watch people, making phone calls and snatched their handsets from them and run away.

 “But our problems are women and drinks. We have attacked over 200 bank customers and made millions,” he confessed.
 Efe, who was full of regrets over the last robbery attack, which landed him in police cell, revealed how God warned him to repent and stop robbery.
 He said: “The previous night, I had a nightmare. I saw clearly in my dream how about 9,000 dwarfs chased me. The dwarfs were armed with spear, arrows, catapults, and tear gas canisters. They were chasing me and I was running, till I got to a point, where the road was barricaded by river which couldn’t be crossed, and the dwarfs started devouring my flesh.”

 He said when he woke up, he prayed to God for His mercies. “ I think God heard my prayers. As I slept again, I dreamt that a man was holding a Bible and preaching to me. I heard when he asked me to hand over the guns to him but I refused. He showed me a policeman and coffin and I woke up again and prayed.”
 He said as he was preparing to join his gang for the bank operation, he saw two policemen in his street and remembered his dreams. “But as I was contemplating what to do, my phone rang and behold, it was my younger sister who reminded me of her school fees.”

 According to him, when they snatched the money from the victim, as he was coming out from the bank, there was a flash back of the dreams he had. Some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who witnessed the robbery were said to have attacked them, resulting in firing of gunshots into the air to scare the union members away.

 But Efe and his gang members were wrong, as the sound of the gun only attracted the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ilupeju, Gbolahan Olugbenga, and members of his team going for a security meeting.
 Efe said: “Immediately I saw the patrol team, I knew we were in trouble. I quickly re-loaded my gun to fight back. The police had upper hand, as they shot Seyi dead. I had to run into a hostel. But I was eventually fished out from among the students.”
 He said it was easy identifying him, as he was bleeding profusely from the gunshot wounds he sustained from the police.

 With what happened, should I blame God? No. I blame myself because I was warned and shown everything in my dream,” he said.

 He, however, pleaded to be allowed to go, promising that he would go into evangelism. He said: “I know God has forgiven me. If I survive the gunshot wounds and am allowed to go home, I would be a preacher.”
 The DPO confirmed the incident and said the bank manager invited him. According to him, some staff of the bank would be quizzed because it is shameful for bank officials to be fraternising with armed robbers.