By Ben Ekezie
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a self-confessed killer who admitted to being responsible for the deaths of several Uber drivers in the state.
The suspect, identified as Moshood Rokeeb, was arrested by operatives of the Commissioner of Police Special Squad two weeks after one of his victims escaped.
Recounting the horror their targets go through, Rokeeb said he was forced into the evil act in an attempt to raise money to buy soap for ritual purposes.
“I am a native of Saki in Ogun State. I dropped out of secondary school because my parents said that I was not intelligent. At a point, I had to relocate to the village and stay with my grandmother when my parents separated. Things were hard, and I came back to Lagos to hustle. I got a place to learn printing job, but I was not happy that it was taking too long for me to start earning money. My friend, Yussuf who I was squatting with, advised me to join the Yahoo Yahoo Club. That I can be making money to sustain myself. I started, but discovered that all the traps that I was setting were not working. I was doing the love app type where you deceive a man or woman abroad into a relationship. As soon as they send money, you will block them.
“I became frustrated because I was not making any money, and my friend advised me to go to Oyo for spiritual cleansing.“
According to Moshood, his friend Yussuf, who is currently on the run, suggested that they needed plenty of money to pay the native doctor.
“We agreed to steal a car and sell it. This was sometime in March of this year. We ordered a ride and told the Uber driver to meet us at Omole in the Ogudu area of Lagos around 10 p.m. I sat behind while Yussuf sat beside the driver, armed with a sharp knife. When we got close to the location we chose, which is along a lonely road, I used a rope to strangle him while Yussuf will either stab or use hammer to hit him twice. When he was no longer moving, we pushed him out of the car and drove away with the Corolla. We were able to sell it and use it to travel to Oyo State.We stayed in that shrine for more than one month, and the baba kept saying that the charm, which is a soap, was not ready. We had spent all our money and decided to come back and rob again. This was during the Sallah celebration, and we ordered another ride through Uber. Unfortunately, I was very drunk and could not concentrate very well, so the driver escaped with wounds. We drove away the car and sold it for N1.4 million to a panel beater. With the proceeds, we went back to Oyo and succeeded in getting the miracle soap after some days. It cost us so much money that we became broke again. We decided to rob again. This was on April 12, and one of my friends helped us order the ride. We chose another location close to River Valley Estate. It was the same method; I strangled him while Yussuf stabbed him twice. We sold his car and decided to go into the full-time Yahoo business.”
On the effect of the soap, Moshood said they stopped robbery when their Yahoo business started booming. “The soap started working, so there is no need to rob or kill anyone again. We started trapping a lot of people abroad who were willing to send money to us. I promised myself that I would never commit such a crime again; unfortunately, police arrested me.”
On their arrest, police sources said that immediately the Commissioner of Police, Kayoade Adegoke, got wind of their activities from the surviving victim, he deployed operatives who tracked down and arrested Rokeeb. “We were able to trace their location through Uber. Nigerians should be careful how they assist people to order rides, as the information is always in the system. In such a situation, the person who ordered the ride is automatically a suspect. We are still on the trail of the fleeing suspect, and no matter how far he goes, he will be arrested.“
