by ‘Jola Sotubo

The police in Lagos have arrested 3 men in the Ikeja area of the state after they were alleged to be assassins.

The suspects were reportedly on a mission to assassinate a popular businessman,Victor Adelakun aka Ade Lexus and had been sent by his business partner, Adebayo Orekoya aka Bobby Ibadan.

The gang was apprehended at a night club on Allen Avenue where they were allegedly lying in wait for Adelakun who had, according to them, become a target for snatching Orekoya’s wife.

Punch reports:

It had also been reported that the gang was given an advance payment of N140,000 to do the job. The sum of N100,000 as well as the victim’s photograph had been recovered from the gang during their arrest.

At the parade on Tuesday, the gang leader, 27-year-old Ibrahim, claimed that they were only asked to kidnap Ade Lexus, and were promised N300,000.

He said, “We went to the night club simply to enjoy ourselves. We were given N140,000 as part payment to kidnap the man. Orekoya told us that Ade Lexus snatched his wife, and that he was also after his life. He then sent us to kidnap him (Ade Lexus), and promised to pay us N300,000 after doing the job.

“I have a wife and three children. I have not killed anyone before in my life. I used to work as a welder before I met Orekoya.”

Another member of the gang, 25-year-old Olanrewaju, also claimed that they had come to Lagos to kidnap their victim.

However, our correspondent learnt that Ibrahim, who hails from Ikorodu in Lagos, mobilised other gang members from Abeokuta, Ogun State to carry out the assassination.

The police insisted that they had laid in ambush for their victim at the night club, and were waiting for him to come out before he would be killed. It was further gathered that Ibrahim had earlier gone for many assassination jobs.

According to police report, the gang, who are of different addresses in Ibadan, Oyo State, were arrested after a tip-off, but their driver, simply identified as Samuel, escaped.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, said investigation was still ongoing, and Orekoya would soon be arrested.

“The gang was sent to assassinate. They came to Allen Avenue to meet their victim, and we got the information and arrested them. They have confessed that they were given N100,000 as a mobilisation fee by one Orekoya Adebayo aka Bobby. Their sender has not been arrested, but we will get him,” Manko said.