2. Dr Oyenusi
On the 8th of September, 1971, ‘Doctor’ Ishola Oyenusi, a notorious Nigerian robber was executed, his is name forever etched in the history of Nigeria as one of the most violent armed robbers, a criminal who unleashed boundless terror on many Nigerians.
By the early 1970s, just after the end of a bloody civil war, cold-hearted robber Ishola Oyenusi who called himself Dr Oyenusi, terrorized all of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest commercial centre. Oyenusi was no ordinary bandit, he was wicked and had all the self-confidence in the world to go with it. His arrogance was also legendary. In 1970, he was arrested and handcuffed by a police officer. As the policeman was ordering him around,
Oyenusi blasted him and thundered: “People like you don’t talk to me like that when I am armed. I gun them down.”
This robber was so feared that when the famed movie director, Chief Eddie Ugbomah made a film titled The Rise and Fall of Dr Oyenusi in 1977, there was no one bold enough to come forward to act the role of the armed robber because they feared his members would strike.
Ugbomah had no other option but to act the role himself with the feature film depicting the senseless violence of armed robberies and the absolutely atrocious manner by which lives of innocent Nigerians were snuffed out.
After shooting the movie, Ugbomah received a letter from thieves who invaded and looted his provision store, carting away all they could. In the letter, they promised to return his goods if he would only stop shooting the film in which he exposed the support received by the armed robbers from their ‘godfathers’ and even high-ranking officers in the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The stubborn Ugbomah called their bluff and went ahead with the 16mm-flick, he would later produce many other films such as Death of a Black President (1983), Esan (Nemesis), The Mask and Vengeance of the Cult in 1985.
Crowned emperor of robbers in the 1970s, Oyenusi was described as the ‘first celebrated armed robber in Nigeria’. He is regarded by some as the pioneer of conventional armed robbery in Nigeria.
Oyenusi was reportedly nabbed by the Nigerian police in March 1971, after he organized a robbery in which $28,000 (value as at that time) was stolen.
Although the first public execution of robbers had taken place in April 1971, that of Oyenusi and his criminal allies was a special case and the Lagos government reportedly took time to prepare the grounds at the Bar Beach. A combined team of police officers and soldiers struggled to contain the surging crowd of thousands of excited spectators.
At about 9.15 am, a team of Lagos city council workers came to the execution arena with empty mock coffins which they calmly laid behind the execution stand. Obviously, they were there to make fun of a man who had sent so much terror into their hearts.
About half an hour later, eight robbers were led to the execution stand, though faced with death, Oyensui smiled all through the proceedings; he sure was expecting what he got.
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