Daniel Duru, a 31-year-old man from Imo State was born and brought in the north. Because of this, he is fluent in Hausa, Igbo and English language. However, instead of using this multi-linguistic prowess to a better use, he decided to engage in crime, flowing with different gangs of people from diverse backgrounds, though he felt more at home with the Northerners.
Duru was the leader of a gang of robbers made up of Fulani herdsmen. They used to move their weapons from Zamfara State to operate in Oyo State.
According to Duru’s confessions at a recent media briefing at the Oyo State Police Command, he had connections with different kidnap gangs that he could tell which gang struck at a particular place, even if he was not part of the operation.
That was how immediately he heard about the kidnap of Senator Iyabo Anisulowo in Ogun State in 2016, he knew the gang that carried out the job. He went ahead to call the kidnap gang’s leader and got a confirmation of his guess.
Though Duru ended up in prison awaiting trial over other kidnap cases he was part of in Oyo State, his first thought after securing a bail was how to make money from crime while the case continues in court. His excuse? He was frustrated because he was not getting money to spend like he did before going to prison.
Since crime and criminals don’t continue forever, Duru and other suspected members of his criminal gang are back in police net.
Saturday Tribune learnt that they were arrested by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Oyo State, led by their commander, SP Sola Aremu, after they carried out a robbery operation at Idi Ayunre area of Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode road.
The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Abiodun Odude, during a recent press briefing, described Duru as an “unrepentant kidnap/robbery kingpin who had masterminded high profile kidnap of several victims, including Senator Iyabo Anisulowo.”
Though Duru was arrested in 2016, he was granted bail in January this year, but was quick to crime, in an attitude of ‘business as usual.’
According to Odude, “barely four months after his release from Agodi prison, the suspect formed another armed robbery gang which operated on Ibadan-Ijebu Ode road axis, terrorizing, maiming and robbing commuters of valuables.”
The police commissioner went further to disclose that in one of the robbery operations allegedly carried out by Duru and his gang members who were herdsmen, they invaded Iyana Bare farm Settlement via Idi Ayunre in April, robbed one Haruna Usman, before killing him when he resisted being kidnapped.
He gave names of other arrested suspected members as Aminu Abubakar (22) and Umaru Mohammed (23). Odude said that Abubakar was the gang’s armourer who usually got arms transported to him in Ibadan by one Asara from Zamfara State, adding that Azara and other gang members were at large.
He added that the third suspect, Mohammad was an ex-convict who once served a jail term in Lokoja prison, Kogi State.
He listed the exhibits recovered from the suspects to include three AK-49 rifles, an English-made pistol, 87 rounds of live 7.62 ammunition and 16 expended shells of 7.62 ammunition.
Saturday Tribune had an interview with two of the suspects. Though they admitted the robbery operation, they denied the killing of Usman during an attempt to kidnap him.
But Saturday Tribune’s findings revealed that the expended shells found at the scene of the killing and robbery were the same as the live ones found in the Ak-49 rifles recovered from the gang. It was also learnt that the robbery operation on Ibadan-ijebu Ode road was carried few hours after the killing of Usman.
Culled from Nigerian Tribune
