Ishola Oyenusi

Ishola Oyenusi popularly known as Dr. Ishola was a notorious Nigerian armed robber who committed series of robbery and other crimes in the late 60's and early 70's. The phenomenal armed robber rose from the ashes of the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War that spanned three years, from 1967-1970.

Oyenusi was a charismatic, cocksure gangster whose lordly disdain for the law cast the terrifying portent of social breakdown, and had come to be celebrated as the quintessential bandit of his time.

During his reign of terror, Doctor Oyenusi carved a name for himself as the most brutal terror the country had ever known. He lived up to another of his nickname of 'Dr. Rob and Kill', because he was known to kill with impunity and his myth was legendary. He unleashed boundless terror on many Nigerians and would kill even for a stick of cigarrete.

Oyenusi was no doubt, the uncrowned emperor of Nigerian robbers and he was described as the ‘first celebrated armed robber in Nigeria’, regarded by some as the pioneer of conventional armed robbery in Nigeria.

When Oyenusi reigned at the height of his regal confidence, he declared: ‘The bullet has no power over me

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Exploits

In the history of crime in Nigeria, Ishola Oyenusi, also known as 'The Doctor', a cold blooded armed robber who held sway in the early 70s, stands on a very special threshold that none can ever dream of attaining.

The Nigerian Civil War had just ended in 1970 but by the early 1970s, a stone-hearted armed robber, Ishola Oyenusi (he called himself Dr. Oyenusi. even. if he never finished the secondary school), was terrorising all of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest commercial centre. Before one tale of his daring exploits died down, another one had sprung up. Oyenusi was no ordinary pilferer, this snitcher was downright. wicked and had all the self-confidence. in the world. to go with it.

And you know something? He was quite romantic and chivalrous. There was a story of how he snatched his first car on Herbert Macaulay Road in Yaba, Lagos. Why? His girlfriend was broke. He eventually sold the car for N400 but the sad part was that in the process of stealing the car, the poor owner was shot dead. He actually snatched the first car he saw on the road. Such was the ferocious nature of his audacity. Oyenusi’s 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.‘

Arrest

On March 1971, Oyenusi together with six other members of his gang were nabbed by the Nigerian Police after he organized a robbery in which $28,000 (value as at that time) was stolen. They killed a police constable in the process.

Trial and execution

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 took time to prepare the grounds at the Bar Beach.

By 8.am, officials were already at the execution arena to check the whole place just to ensure that everything went on ‘well’. 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.

HIS EXECUTION DAY

On the day of Oyenusi’s execution, 8th September, 1971 over 30,000 Nigerians trooped to the famous Bar Beach (armed robberies were quite rare then and when it happened, it was the gist of the town for months so the considerably high level of the people’s curiosity can be appreciated) While some in the crowd jeered and booed Oyenusi and his Gang of Seven, some of his friends and family members present could not hold back their tears. But for most of the witnesses, it was good riddance to bad nonsense. As for Oyenusi, he was smiling, smiling to the last but the agony on his face too was unmistakable.

Before he was executed in front of 30,000 watching Nigerians, no one believed that 'The Doctor' would be captured, as he was famed for 'disappearing' or his body capable of being pierced by bullets but just few minutes before his body was riddled with hot-leaded bullets from stern-faced soldiers of the Nigerian Army, he finally confessed saying:

‘I am dying for the offence I have committed.‘

Two army trucks and a black van conveyed them to the firing spot. Oyenusi was in the black van. In seconds, three soldiers flew out of the army trucks and proceeded to the black van inside which was Nigeria’s most dreaded armed robber. The soldiers came to a screeching halt and stood at attention by the van. All of a sudden, one of them let out a shrill command! The door was flung open and slowly, Oyenusi appeared from within the darkness of the Black Maria. As if the heavens were in. concert, dark clouds had formed over the Bar Beach. He was cloaked in a dark long-sleeved shirt and his hands were tied behind his back. He spotted a pair of dark loafers and his trousers were wrinkled. Sweating profusely, he kept throwing fast glances around as if he was looking for someone as he surveyed the crowd who had thronged the beach to simply see him die.

As the soldiers grabbed and tied him to the pole, he was still scanning through the crowd. One of the giggling spectators in the crowd whispered to the next Who is he looking for?‘. Smartly, seven soldiers formed a lethal line in front of Oyenusi. A soldier let out a fierce command to the sharpshooters. All of them took aim at Oyenusi. The next voice reverberated all over Nigeria:

‘Fire!’

Like an electrocuted being, his body shook vigorously as he slumped and went limp around the pole that held his remains. .^[3]

See also

Lawrence Anini

References