Big crimes have been suffered and overcome in Nigeria. The 1970s saw Oyenusi, the 1980s saw Anini, and the 1990s saw Shina Rambo. Their atrocities lasted no more than five years, according to Derico Nawa mama in the early 2000s. But one of the largest and longest periods of terror in Nigerian history was the reign of Abbey Godogodo in the early 2000s. Abiodun Egunjobi, also known as Godogodo, 36, emerged as the leader of a group that terrorized Lagos and the southwest with reckless abandon. The gang defied all logic, struck with accuracy, and killed without compassion.
Godogodo, who had served seven years in prison for a crime he believed to be insignificant, set off on his journey into the dangerous world of crime. He was a junk trader in the Abule-Egba slum of Gatankowa when he got into a brawl and was taken into custody by the police. Godogodo was put in jail because he had no one to save him, him, and he felt that the police had wronged him by sending him there. He made friends with more dangerous armed robbers while incarcerated, formed an alliance with them, and spent time learning under their tutelage.
Upon his release from prison, he resolved to take legal action against the police for their seven-year incarceration of him.
Godogodo, also referred to as the one-eyed assassin, caused the Lagos State Police Command so many headaches during the course of 14 years prior to his arrest on August 1, 2013, that the command rejoiced on the day of his arrest, knowing that at least its men would be safe from his guns. Godogodo, a ‘hefty man’ who was born in 1977 in Atan, Ogun State, turned to crime after he ran away from his parents’ house to live in the slum of Gatankowa in the Abule-Egba neighborhood of Lagos. In order to survive, he sold cigarettes and booze here. Later, he would run into a group of criminals who had a bag of firearms with them. “I was co-opted into the gang, but I wasn’t satisfied with what they were giving me after each operation, so I joined another gang,” Godogodo said to Crime Fighters after he was apprehended. This happened in September 2013.
Godogodo is reported to have been fully equipped with guns on his back when he went into operations, carrying a bag that included ten AK-47 rifles that were fully loaded and had thirty rounds of ammo apiece. It was learned that Godogodo had promised to go down with as many police officers as possible the day he was unable to elude capture and that he used to assure his gang members that he would never be captured alive.
This promise was subsequently verified when, on the day of his arrest, anti-robbery investigators discovered multiple loaded AK-47s—each holding 60 rounds of live ammunition—in various locations throughout his home, including the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room. Even his wife and family were unaware of his illicit activities since he was so skilled at hiding them. He seldom lived in one place for longer than a month and owned six residences spread across Lagos, Ogun, and Ondo States. As a result, he was motivated to start his own gang and developed into one of the most infamous robbers in history, causing havoc over the whole southwest region of Nigeria.
On Sunday, September 9, 2012, his group carried out one of his most heinous operations, murdering police officers and civilians in Agege, Ikeja, and other sections of Lagos after robbing bureau de change operators there. He spent some time researching the psychology of a typical police officer before making his decision, and the outcome helped him develop a successful plan that allowed him to avoid capture for an extended period of time. Additionally, it allowed him to continue projecting an aura of invincibility to his other gang members. Many of them thought he has magical abilities that allowed him to vanish anytime he pleased.
Godogodo admitted to the police during his interrogation that he only took raw cash for his operations and that he would only target a location where he knew there would be enough money to take.
He added that he has no bank account since, just after every surgery, he put all of his money in real estate. During his interview, Godogodo stated the following:
“I called Sayeed Omolopa, one of my boys, and a few other boys led by Kasali and Ejike to meet me at Alfa Beach in Ajah on that fateful day.” My boys were five and they were about seven.
Yemi Boss, who arrived with Ejike, suggested that we rob several bureau de change operators in Agege.
Everyone would get anything they got their hands on, according to the arrangement. We made use of over nine AK-47 weapons and two cars.
Some bureau de change employees thought we were going to ask for money changes when we arrived in Agege, so we opened fire on them and sprinted into their stores to bag up all the cash we could find. Actually, we shot occasionally to frighten customers in addition to robbing stores one after the other. When someone attempted to obstruct the road and stop us from moving, we shot at them. There were too man persons killed in the operation for me to count. We started shooting at anyone who attempted to block the road.
Although the boys I went on that work with were renowned and hard to manage, they all dreaded me.
The operation was very profitable for us. We believed that a group of police officers from the Rapid Response Squad, or RRS, were pursuing us when we encountered them as we were attempting to flee.
As we got closer, we opened fire on the van, killing every police officer inside, taking their rifles, and making our getaway along the Lagos-Abeokuta route. Following the procedure, no money was shared because everyone took everything they could grab. I discovered upon returning home that I had made more than N500,000, but a few days later, I received word that one of my lads, Tosin, had made more than N6 million from the operation. From the operation, everyone profited greatly. Although I was aware that many people had died in that operation, I didn’t go to read the newspapers the following day to find out the full magnitude of the damage. As robbers, you understand, we don’t go on killing sprees; rather, we kill when we have no other choice. We saw some police officers at the Oko-Oba police station while traveling; nevertheless, they were unaware that we were robbers. We took their firearms and killed them first.
A few months later, we broke into a white Range Rover Sport in Ikeja and stole the phones from two of the occupants. We thought they might make a police report. We believed that the two RRS men on a motorcycle that we saw as we approached Agidingbi Road were pursuing us. We decelerated, and as they approached us, I rolled down the window and fired quickly, causing them to tumble into the gutter on their motorcycle. I then instructed my boys to retrieve their guns before we continued on our way.
We made the decision to turn when we arrived at the Coca-Cola intersection because of the heavy traffic. My boys opened fire on the bystanders who were attempting to assist the fallen police officers when we arrived at their location. We made it to Medical Road, which is near Computer Village, but by then the local police had been notified of our activities. As soon as they saw us, they opened fire, causing damage to our tires. Up to Capitol Road, we were able to handle the tires. After exiting my car to move through the traffic, I noticed a Toyota Camry trailing behind us.
I was unaware that it had a mobile police officer with a gun.
Upon my return, I found Kasali battling the cop on wheels who had a weapon in his hand. I shot at the policeman a few times. When he made an attempt to flee, I pursued him and immediately murdered him before taking his rifle. Before we could flee, we stole another car and left the Range Rover Sport behind. The one-eyed robbery mastermind terrorized the Southwest for over ten years, murdering numerous police officers and taking their firearms with him. He couldn’t remember how many he had slain. After an incident in 2009 at Lioko, Ogun State, during a gunfight with members of the O’dua People’s Congress (OPC), a local vigilante organization in southwest Nigeria, Godogodo lost one eye. “My eye was struck by a bullet. After his arrest in August 2013, he informed Daily Independent, “It was at ljoko, Ogun State.” “We were operating in a residential neighborhood at around 8 p.m., though I’m not sure which exact area in Ljoko is involved. We were six thieves with guns. We obtained cash, phones, and a laptop during the operation before vigilantes from the O’dua People’s Congress (OPC) prevented us. I was hurt during the gunfight between my group and the OPC men.”
He was still bleeding from gunshot wounds. However, he did not treat the injuries at Nigerian hospitals due to security concerns. To receive medical attention for his wounds, Gogogodo traveled to the Republic of Benin, where one of his three wives lived. Godogodo claimed that in contrast to other guys in his class who used drugs and alcohol as a way to hide their fear, he forewent some pleasures.
“Even though the money was there, I do not smoke, I do not drink like other robbers, I do not lead a flashy lifestyle like others, and I do not wear pricey gowns and gold chains like others.” I don’t go to parties and nightclubs, and I don’t drive fancy cars like other people do,” he declared.
He was incredibly cautious and discreet. However, he was a murderer and robber who would ultimately be apprehended. Upon being taken into custody, Godogodo admitted to a long list of offenses and made some shocking admissions. “After attending a church, I give to it by purchasing instruments for the choir or meeting any of their needs before departing. I decided not to return to the church in order to avoid getting discovered.” On August 1, 2013, Godogodo met his demise when Abba Kyari’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) agents arrested him at his Ibadan residence. There was wild celebration when he arrived at the Police headquarters in Ikeja.
He claimed that the day he was caught, he became restless and chose to sit outside his home. He had no idea that the area was under siege by the cops.
“My wife called me that morning to come have breakfast, but I was so fidgety that I was unable to eat.”
When a neighbor of mine came to ask for financial assistance, I went to sit outside the building and started thinking about my life. While we were talking, I noticed a Toyota Sienna drive to the other end of the street; normally, I don’t wait when I see a Sienna because I assume it is being used by the police. “While I was still outside, I just saw two men walking in my direction, suddenly I saw just one, the other went into hiding, I became suspicious that they were policemen and I made moves to run awav.”
The policeman pursuing Godogodo opened fire on him as he was attempting to flee, and Godogodo claimed that he “knew it was over when one of the bullets entered through my back and came out from my chest, then I started pleading with him not to kill me.” Abba Kyari, a former Inspector General of Police deputy commissioner and member of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
During his terror reign, which lasted for almost a decade, he used his plunder to invest in farms and real estate. Prior to his apprehension, he constructed over six homes in Ikorodu, Lagos, Lara, and Ifo in Ogun State, as well as 52 fishponds in Ibadan, Oyo State, which he used as a cover for his income.
He said that neither his parents nor any of his three spouses knew that he was an armed robber. His ex-wife, Mary Egunjobi, who was also detained alongside him, asserted that she was unaware that Godogodo was a robber. Their marital status was three years. He was held at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja, Lagos, following his arrest in August 2013. Little is known about his trial or whereabouts seven years later.
Godogodo’s case was named as one of Kyari’s “60 achievements” in an August 2019 Facebook post by DCP Abba Kyari, who also stated that it was “under prosecution.” However, information regarding the prosecution is cloaked in suspicious silence. According to some sources, Abiodun Godogodo died from extreme torture while being held by SARS.
It is believed that after participating in the murder of multiple police officers, no one was freed.
