By Kunle Oguns, reporting from Lagos
Saheed Abdullahi Mosadoluwa, a.k.a. Igbile appears to have made himself the law and a state within a state in Lagos. The reason is not far-fetched: residents—both the rich and the poor are learning the bitter side of his brigandage and are scared stiff to confront this monster of a thug. Saheed, a reputed powerful non-state actor, has reportedly grown so deadly with his nefarious activities and become stupendously wealthy to the extent of having a female police officer contact, allegedly known as one “Ayo Eguaje’ attached to Admin Police Public Relations section, in top-notch criminal investigation center in Abuja; His extra-ordinary exploits include land grabbing acts which has seen him spare no one—no matter how mighty!
Saheed was said to have dared the Awujale of Ijebu-land when he seized his land in Epe and attacked his guards with dangerous weapons including machetes; he also reportedly held Ikeja under siege when his boys numbering thousands almost invaded a popular police station in Ikeja where he was detained and kept for the night before he was secretly smuggled to Abuja to answer to his unraveling crimes in Epe and environs. One of those who tasted his reckless gambit was one Micheal Utomi, the owner of AL-rus Engineering whose workers suffered from assorted abuse including kidnapping, torture, robbery, and bodily harm.
He went into hiding when he got wind of the fact that the Inspector-General of Police had ordered his arrest when his dangerous behaviors could no longer be tolerated. Several landowners who cried to authorities for his arrest were merely greeted with a slap on the wrist as Mr. Saheed was generally known to act “above the Law’. Such cases, at the most, were harried to the Magistrate Court instead of the High Court which ought to have assumed jurisdiction. He had earlier been granted bail by a magistrate court in Oshodin but was never deterred. Now, after his arrest, on the way to the airport, he attempted to escape by trying to overpower the enforcers escorting him.
It was as a result of their inability to get a flight on that day to Abuja that he was detained overnight in Area F Police Station, where his boys made a spirited attempt to release him by force but were rebuffed. Several police officers retired and serving had waded into the matter and tried to persuade the arresting officers to free the criminal on bail, but they stood their ground; It was when that failed, that Igbile’s wife and his “Business Partner” allegedly mobilized his boys with full weaponry using branded vehicles with the inscription “Amen Estate” to lay siege on Area F, in a futile attempt to subvert justice. Since then, commendations have been pouring in for the Police Command for caging the terrorists. With Saheed out of the way, Lagosians can now breathe fresh air, especially landowners.
