“Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it would be of unblessed memory” - Justice James Omo-Agege,1987.
Anini is lying in his hospital bed, recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by the police who arrested him (on the left)
It is pretty customary for judges to express their views following the sentencing of someone who committed a heinous crime. The words of Justice James Omo-Agege will ring true as we delve into the brief and wasted life of one of Nigeria's most notorious and dangerous criminals. Who was Lawrence Anini, and what impact did he have on the history of Africa's most populous nation?
His roots
Anini was born in 1960 in Orogho village, around 100 kilometers from the former Bendel state, now Edo State. He was the second and only son of three children. Born into a poor family with little to no prospect of a better life, he decided to move from the village to Bendel, a more developed town, to become a cab driver. He learned to drive and quickly gained popularity around the motor park, and he was nicknamed “the law."
Crime, terror, and Robin Hood
Soon after, Anini becomes the official driver for some local criminals, being that he is a very skilled driver. He would eventually stop being a driver and form his gang of criminals, consisting of his right-hand man, Monday Osunbor, and a few others. They specialized mostly in carjacking and bank robberies. He bribed many police officers, including George Iyamu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who provided security information to the gang and safeguarded them from capture.
According to the National Archive and several newspaper publications, Anini’s criminal career began in the early 1980s, but his reign of terror was in the year 1986, when he supposedly declared war on the police, placing the city of Benin in a constant state of fear and emergency. In the 4 months leading to his arrest, he and his gang killed, kidnapped, tortured, and raped their victims in Bendel.
On October 21, 1986, after stealing N46,000 from the Agbor branch of African Continental Bank, it is said that Anini drove into a nearby market and tossed part of the stolen money from his getaway car to passersby; an action he reportedly replicated on numerous occasions, earning him the nickname: Robin Hood; a fictional character in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe in 1820, famous for stealing from the rich to give to the poor, Robin Hood and his Merry Men’s generosity to the poor made them champions, at least in the eyes of those they helped. Like Robin Hood, Anini hated law enforcement and the oppressive laws he believed were imposed on good citizens who just wanted to get on with their lives.
He will later say:
I only threaten people for their money…I don’t shoot people…it is Monday (Osunbor) that kills. I did not kill the 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 they killed my father and my brother at Ibadan and my friend Kingsley Eweka.
Reports show that he was brutal, and policemen were his top victims. He was responsible for the death of 20 people – 11 policemen and nine civilians. As Anini's notoriety increased, so did his confidence, and he began writing letters to banks he intended to target in advance to warn them of his plans.
Anini wrote a letter to then-president Ibrahim Babangida, expressing his admiration for him but his dissatisfaction with the situation in Bendel and the increasing cost of commodities, "that is why I now split whatever money I get among the people."
In an October 1986 Newswatch article, he outlined six requirements for peace in Bendel.
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.
Corrupt police officers
Anini, during his trial, accused Iyamu of the aforementioned before Justice James Omo-Agege in the High Court of Justice in Benin City. Of the 10 police officers Anini implicated, five were convicted.
The case brought against Iyamu was significant and crucial because he was exposed not only as a corrupt law enforcement officer but also as one without any moral compass or scruples. He, as later confessed by Anini, aided and abetted lots of criminals in Bendel. Anini revealed that George Iyamu, who was the most senior police officer, shielded the robbers, revealed police secrets to them, and went as far as to give them logistical supports, such as arms, to carry out their robbery operations.
The arrest that sparked controversy
On December 3, 1986, a 10-man team of police officers led by Superintendent Kayode Omonaroro brought an end to Anini's atrocities. According to multiple accounts, when the Police knocked on the door of the house, Anini opened the door himself, he was in the company of multiple women. One of the police officers asked:
Where is Anini,” he tried to play smart: “Oh, Anini is under the bed in the inner room, he responded and made swift moves to walk past Omonaroro and his team. He was shot in the ankle. To render him incapacitated, the officer opened fire on the leg. He was again asked if he was Anini, to which he replied: "My brother, I won’t deceive you; I won’t tell you to lie, I’m Anini."
He was arrested and taken first to the Police headquarters and later transferred to the military hospital, where he was treated and his leg amputated.
The Guardian Nigeria, however, denounced the police's response to Anini's detention, writing on December 13, 1986:
Anini may have been a callous man…There is no reason why the police pumped six rounds of ammunition to blow off his leg. Instead of taking him to the hospital immediately, the police first took him to their office, where they took their time; the state must protect even a notoriously bad man. It cannot be said that the force used on Anini was reasonable. It was patently brutal and unfortunate.
Unsurprisingly, Anini was found guilty of his crimes and sentenced to death alongside some of his gang members. In passing his judgment, Justice Omo-Agege remarked,
Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it will be of unblessed memory. Few people, if ever, would give the name to their children.
Their execution took place on March 29, 1987. Anini was publicly executed along with Osunbor by firing squad. Members of his gang had been previously executed with DSP Iyamu.
His legacy
According to a 1986 publication by the Guardian Nigerian, Anini told news reporters that he fathered two children and was expecting a baby from a woman named Gladys, who left him and fled overseas.
Anini’s crimes left a stigma on his family, and 35 years after his death, his children claim they are still labeled as
“sons of a criminal.”
Other sources: https://arewaworld.com/the-legend-of-anini/
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