We Stole and Sold 12 Motorcycles in December 2025 — Suspect

The Sinister Use of a Pestle in Armed Robbery

A 35-year-old man, Aliu, has confessed to using a pestle as a weapon during armed robberies. His plan was to strike down any okada rider who might try to stop him from dispossessing them of their motorcycles. Alongside his gang member, Toheeb, they used the pestle as a tool to gain power over targeted motorcyclists until their operations were recently halted.

The two suspects were arrested by the operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) in Oyo State Police Command after they started their criminal activities in different parts of Ibadan City and even extended it to Iwo Town in Osun State. Their operation in Oyo Town was said to have been unsuccessful, while they hijacked two motorcycles from their owners in Iwo Town.

The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, mentioned that the VCRU operatives had been on the trail of one of the suspects, Toheeb, who had been initially arrested in February by a surveillance team for phone theft. During intelligence gathering, the operatives noticed that Toheeb was frequently seen with a sack, moving out of an area at nightfall. Thinking it could be a gun, the operatives kept trailing the suspect until he was arrested along with his partner in crime after their last operation at Oki area, Olodo axis in Ibadan.

Modus Operandi

Aliu and Toheeb would move out at night, armed with a pestle cut to a size that would make it club-like but bigger in size. After putting it in a sack, they would target a motorcycle, wave down its rider, and ask to be taken to a destination. Aliu would sit behind the rider while Toheeb would be at the back, holding the pestle hidden in a sack. On reaching a quiet or deserted spot, they would stop the driver as if they wanted to disembark, only to land the pestle on the rider’s neck and escape with his motorcycle while he would be writhing in pain or running away to escape being killed.

The riders who tried to fight back to prevent being dispossessed of their belongings reportedly suffered most, as they would receive more blows from the pestle to weaken them physically, leaving them no choice but to give up. From that spot, the suspects would speed off and end up selling their loot.

Background and Motivation

Aliu, a former inmate in Ilaro Custodial Centre in Ogun State, had spent four years before regaining freedom. According to information gathered, their outings every month were more than 10 times, and were always successful except the one in Oyo Town.

In a bid to disguise the atrocities they were perpetrating, each of the suspects started running a gas station from the proceeds of their criminal operations, but told VCRU operatives that they continued hijacking motorcycles because of low returns from the business.

Further investigation led to the discovery of transactions between the suspects and the buyers of the robbed motorcycles, with one of them always paying for the purchased motorcycles in cash while another was so benevolent that he even gave N200,000 to Aliu as a monetary gift to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday, while he would loan them money or a dash of N10,000, N20,000 for outings.

Learning from Past Experiences

In his confession, Aliu disclosed that he learned how to use a pestle on their victims from the experience he also once had in the hand of such a criminal. He mentioned that he was arrested because his gang member, Toheeb, and he used to dispossess motorcyclists of their bikes while armed.

Aliu, who made it known that he learned furniture as a vocation, explained how he fell victim to the method of robbery he adopted: “Following my learning furniture making, I was doing the job in Lagos before moving to Igbesa in Ogun State. While there, I bought a motorcycle which I was using to convey frozen turkey from Seme Roundabout to Ijanikin Otto or Okokamaiko. On my return, I would pick passengers.”

One day, he picked a passenger, and as he was dropping off, he didn’t know what happened to him. By the time he became conscious, he saw people surrounding him, asking questions. He felt pain on his neck as if he was hit with something. When he became a bit calm, he realized his motorcycle had disappeared. His attacker was unable to go with his weapon, and they found it to be a pestle cut into a sizeable shape like a big club. That was what later gave him an idea of hijacking motorcycles from owners.

First Operation and Success

Aliu and Toheeb began their operation in December 2025. Their first operation was at Iwo Road, where they flagged down a motorcyclist at about 8:30 p.m. and just told him to go along the road. They directed him towards a deserted spot and asked him to drop them off. Aliu made as if he wanted to pay the transport fare to the rider, while Toheeb landed the pestle on the back side of the man’s neck who yelled in pain and started running away. Aliu mounted the bike, with its engine still running, and they sped off.

However, according to Aliu, all they got as payment for the first bike was N50,000. He narrated what happened: “Immediately we dispossessed the owner of his motorcycle, we moved to Sabo at Mokola area of Ibadan, sourcing for a quick buyer. We saw a Hausa guy and inquired on how to get a buyer. The guy called another Hausa man whose name we didn’t know, and he said he would ride the motorcycle to a place to get a buyer. To our shock, on his return, he brought N50,000. We started dragging issues with him but he said that the motorcycle was old.”

Continued Operations and Consequences

Later, they didn’t see the buyer again, and their Sabo link connected them with another person, who is also a Hausa man. In that December alone, they hijacked 10 motorcycles. Aliu claimed that none of their victims was killed as they usually ran away to save their lives, while the stubborn ones also capitulated when they got more blows on their hands from the pestle.

Toheeb, a 27-year-old, shared his story, explaining how he met Aliu at the block-making industry and how their operations continued. He confirmed keeping the pestle in his mother’s rented but abandoned room which he had a key to. He also disclosed that the motorcycles they sold to one of the receivers were more than 12 pieces in December 2025. According to Toheeb, the highest amount the gang got from the receivers of the stolen motorcycles was N650,000 while the lowest was N300,000.

The PPRO said that the VCRU operatives are making efforts to apprehend the receivers of the stolen motorcycles, after which they would face the full weight of the law.