The Legend Of Anini
The name Anini used to send shivers down the spines of those who heard it. He was a notorious figure in the 1980s and seemed elusive until he was eventually captured.
Born in 1960 in Orogho, a village about 100 kilometers away from Benin city In then the Bendel state now Edo state, he was the second child and only son of his mother’s three children. His father had another son with a different woman.
He moved to Benin city to become a driver and despite being young he was feared and respected at the motor park. Driving wasn’t enough for Anini to live life comfortably so he turned to crime. He first started off as a driver for Benin bandits before forming his own gang of eight. He also had a policeman on his payroll DSP George Iyamu to help secure information and evade arrest.
The gang specialized in carjacking and armed robbery and caused unrest from the early 80s to 1986. The rich lived in fear of Anini because no one had any idea where he was going to strike and police were desperate to catch him. He was nicknamed the “Outlaw king of Benin” by the media.
On October 21, 1986 after stealing 46000 naira from the Agbor branch of African continental bank, Anini drove into the market and shared some of his loot with passers by. He was known for this Robinhood like gesture of robbing the rich and sharing the proceeds with the poor.
Police had grown tired of Anini and his antics and desperately wanted to capture him. He hated policemen and liked to terrorize them , he had killed eleven of them and when he was asked why he liked to torture policemen he said;
“I did not kill police. My own is to do my own. I am a driver, I drive. I always beg them not to kill policemen, not to kill people. My problem with the police is that them kill my father and my brother at Ibadan, and my friend Kingsley Eweka”.
As Anini’s infamy grew so did his confidence and he started writing letters to banks that he planned to attack to warn them in advance of his plans.
Stories of his attacks which happened primarily in Bendel state spread through the country like wildfire and the Head of state at the time, Ibrahim Babangida challenged the Inspector General of Police Etim Inyang to catch him.
National interest in Anini caused him to write a letter addressed to the head of state that read,
“Tell our president we like him but we are not happy here in Bendel. The payment for everything is too much. That is why I now divide any money I get to the people.
In October 1986, he gave six conditions for peace in Benin city that was published by Newswatch.
These were his terms:
“No more prosecution of innocent armed robbers; a stop to collusion between the police and the Nigerian Union of Road Transport, and with members of the Ogboni cult; no more harassment of market women returning from their work; the abolition of 50 kobo – 5 naira (by the highway patrol) equal treatment for everybody; and fair treatment for all legitimate drivers by the police.”
The police were more desperate than ever to catch him but no one came forward with information about Anini because citizens did not trust the police and believed that if they came forward they might be labeled accomplices or their names might be sent to Anini because he had some of the policemen on his payroll.
Finally in December 1986, he was caught. A team of ten policemen led by superintendent of police Kayode Omonaroro tracked him down to a house where he was having a jolly time with the ladies. When they found him he tried to play smart. He was asked about Anini and he responded that Anini was under the bed in another room but the police knew they had found their guy. He was shot in the leg to prevent escape and finally arrested.
His gang was rounded up-including DSP Iyamu- and they were all sentenced to death by firing squad. The day of his execution many came to witness the end of a notorious robber who had terrorized the city. He accepted responsibility for his crimes and asked God for forgiveness before he was shot for his crimes and thus came the end of Anini’s reign of terror.