By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq
(Excerpts from the Book “Tales from Benin “, By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.)
Lawrence Nomayagbon Anini, then popularly called “The Law and “Ovbigbo”, was not an ordinary man. He was something akin to an underworld enigma. His name instilled fear in the minds of the Populace, but surprisingly, it instilled more fear in the minds of Security Agents at that time .
As a young boy growing up in Benin City , there were many myths about the personality of Lawrence Anini.There were those who said he could vanish .There were those who said he could drive a car on reverse mode used from a distance like Benin from Sapele.Lawrence Anini’s accomplices included Monday Osunbor, Friday Ofege, Smallie, Henry Ekponwan , Alhaji Zed Zed and others .
But those days in Benin City, when you heard someone had been arrested at the State CID, it was a very big deal. Everyone will be instilled with fear and trouble, as being arrested there then was akin to being taken to Alcatraz prison. It was seen as the highest level of engagement with the State, and persons often avoided the Perils of being arrested at the State CID.
The rumour then was that it was a particular armed robber who caused the Anini problem. He was a very powerful armed robber who dominated the underworld, but was arrested by a popular police man, who was rumoured to carry those he killed at random in his booth. He was a very powerful police officer who had links with the underworld. The agreement was that the armed robber referenced above would not be killed, but he was killed.
That was what triggered a wave of killings of police men across Benin City, in a way that made Police Men and Police Officers in Benin City then, carry their uniform in polythene bags as wearing a police uniform during the Anini Saga was a death warrant.
From August 1986 to December 1986, Lawrence Anini and his gang dominated crime and criminality in Bendel, Anambra and Ondo States in Nigeria. Their modus operandi was brazen, audacious and grisly. Lawrence Anini was also a “Robben Hood . He carried out well-thought-out and well-executed bank robberies, which resulted in fatal casualties, after which he shared money with market women in broad daylight, in places like Oba Market and Ekiosa Market. His activities generated national traction to an extent that the Guardian Newspapers of Nigeria then did an editorial tagged “Will they ever find Lawrence Anini?
Even the then Commissioner of Police, Akagbosu, was shot by Erie Street, along Sakponba Road, Benin City, and he was flown abroad for treatment. Lawrence Anini also attacked the convoy of an Assistant Inspector General of Police. The matter even led to the IGP Etim Inyang resigning as Inspector General of Police in an altercation that took place at Dodan Barracks with then Military President -Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
Then the Inspector General of Police that took over from him -IGP Ibrahim Coomasie , sent the then Commissioner of Police Parry Osayande ,an aboriginal Benin Man , who is from the Palace of the Oba of Benin , to come and end the embarrassing scenario that was pervading the era in Benin City.DIG Parry Osayande (retired), and within weeks Lawrence Anini was in custody,with a woman playing a great role in getting him in Police Net .
The arrest of Lawrence Anini, a nd his second in command, Monday Osunbor
The arrest of Lawrence Anini, his second in command, Monday Osunbo, and others led to great jubilation in the Streets of Benin City. Benin City was relieved by the capture of the underworld value chain that brought the town to stand standstill.
The Trial of Lawrence Anini was a Judicial Soap Opera. It was in the Justice James Omo-Agegee Bendel State Armed Robbery and Firearms Tribunal. Many Lawyers avoided the case, but some trod the road less travelled,l ike Ademola Oshokor and Dr Osaheni Uzamere. They defended some of the Defendants with so much brilliance, so much so that the Chairman of the Panel said, “No quantum of brilliance of speech will take the place of evidence”. In his 33 33-page judgment, which took 80 minutes to deliver, Hon Justice James Omo-Agegee held thus:
Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it will be unforgettable
At the end, they were all convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. From the Benin Prisons, they were taken in a Black Maria and on their way they sang the popular Benin Gospel Song ‘Ukpo Kpo Kpa gon lo le gamennn ..’. The 29th of March 1987 was the day they were executed.
They knew it was their last day on earth, so “they gave their life to Christ”.A huge crowd gathered at the Ekenwan Barracks, where they shot at a shooting range by marksmen of the Nigerian Army, after which their dead bodies were reportedly and allegedly sent to medical students at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital as cadavers to be used for experimental surgery.
It was the end of an era. The town found peace. It was a story that must be told to another generation. This is the Lawrence Anini Saga
