A hilarious drama played out at the headquarters of the Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, when a suspected armed robber, Fuwad Azeez, arrested by the police, who was said to have prepared protective charms for members of the gang against bullets and knives, vehemently refused to be used as a guinea pig to test the efficacy of the charms.
Azeez, son of a herbalist, was arrested on April 19, 2016 by policemen attached to Denton Divisional Police for carrying arms in public.
His arrest came after the leader of the gang, Kareem Idris alias Aloma, led his team members, on a successful robbery operation at Moonshine Hotel, Obalende on April 8, 2016, where they carted away valuables and money from both workers and lodgers.
Following a tip-off, the police stormed the hotel and caught seven of them while three others escaped. In the course of interrogation, at the SARS office, Kareem Idris allegedly recounted how members of the gang met on a football field with Azeez.
They told him to prepare protection charms for each member of the gang. Fuwad, 22, a native of Iseyin, Oyo State, was said to have learnt the art of black magic from his father.
He promised to do a good job if they would allow him join the gang. Having secured their approval, Fuwad made charms for protection for every one of them against cutlasses, bullets, bottles and other dangerous weapons.
However, the drama played out when Sunday Sun asked which member of the gang would like to test the potency of the charm against a gunshot or a machete cut.
All seven of them, including Fuwad, who prepared the charm vehemently refused to be a guinea pig for the purpose of testing the efficacy of the charm.
Kareem also said they had been stealing items like phones, laptops and other valuables for a long time, which they later sold.
Meanwhile, Ramon Sanusi, who is a foot soldier of the Eiye Confraternity and an indigene of Ogun State who said that he started stealing in 2012, revealed that through the money he got from robbery operations, he had purchased four guns.
As at the time of their arrest, the gang members were caught with one locally made pistol, two live cartridges and some of the charms made by the gang member.
However, investigations are ongoing while efforts have been doubled to track down the other members of the gang still at large.
