Six years after the #EndSARS protests and the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police source has revealed that operatives of the defunct unit deliberately helped a self-confessed armed robber and rapist, Adeniyi Ajayi, also known as Ogologo, escape from detention in Lagos State to intentionally increase the crime rate. The Lagos State Police Command said it rearrested Ogologo in October 2025, five years after he escaped from the former SARS facility in Ikeja.
Escape from SARS Facility in 2020
Following the disbandment of SARS in October 2020, more than 100 suspects escaped from the former SARS facility in Ikeja, Lagos State. Ogologo, who was 27 years old at the time, was among those escapees. He had been arrested for armed robbery and multiple cases of rape, and was earlier paraded by Hakeem Odumosu, the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police, at the command headquarters for raping up to eight women during robberies in different parts of the state.
A source at the command headquarters told The Punch Newspaper in December 2020 that shortly after Ogologo's arrest by an operative of the defunct SARS, he was arraigned and remanded by the court but was later returned to the SARS office at Ikeja. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) could not take in fresh inmates at the time, hence his return to the SARS facility despite the court order for his remand.
Confession and Escape Details
During the parade, Ogologo confessed to raping three women and said he preferred to be killed than go to prison. “I prefer to be killed than to go to prison. I have been imprisoned before, but when I came out, I had no job and that was why I went back to robbing people. I have only raped three victims, and it was when their husbands and bosses refused to cooperate with me that I raped their wives and maids in their presence,” Ogologo confessed.
A clip from his confession, posted on Monday on X by microblogger Oyindamola (@dammiedammie35), showed his statement. The Punch source added: “He was not arraigned for rape, but robbery. Because of COVID-19, he was remanded in police custody and that was where he escaped along with other suspects during a jailbreak. They almost killed one of the officers while escaping.”
Police Officers Accused of Aiding Escape
A police source who spoke to Sahara Reporters further revealed that some police officers were involved in Ogologo's release to spike the crime rate in the state, as a way of saying the government made a mistake by disbanding SARS. The source said: "About 100 of them were released by some senior police officers immediately the IGP announced the disbandment of SARS. We have arrested two operatives; one of them confessed they did it to increase the rate of crime in Lagos which they intended to link to the disbandment of SARS."
"So far, we have arrested about 20 of the suspects; some of them couldn't jump the fence when they were told to run away. Others were arrested while committing another offence."
Rearrest in October 2025
In December 2020, Sahara Reporters said it gathered that Ajayi had already robbed two families and raped a lady after escaping from custody. His whereabouts remained unknown until October 2025, when the Lagos State Police Command claimed they arrested him with other armed robbers.
According to a police post: “On Friday, 3rd October, 2025, at about 1000 hrs, police detectives attached to the Lagos State Task Force on duty along Empire Junction by Jibowu inward Ikorodu Road sighted four young men suspected to be armed robbers. On sighting the officers, three of the suspects escaped, while one, identified as Toheeb Adeboye, male, 21 years old, was intercepted and arrested.”
“A search on him led to the recovery of one locally made single-barrel cut-to-size gun, one English Barreter pistol with two 9mm live ammunition and one locally made pistol with ten live cartridges, all concealed inside a bag.” During interrogation, the suspect confessed that the gang had just concluded a robbery operation at Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State and were on their way to New Supreme Hotel, Akala, Mushin, their regular hideout after operations.
“Acting on this intelligence, operatives raided the hotel, recovered incriminating exhibits including a laptop, charms, substances suspected to be Indian hemp and hard drugs, and arrested one of the fleeing gang members, Ajayi Adeniyi, male, 33 years, who was found with a locally fabricated pistol. The said hotel hideout has since been cordoned off permanently.”
