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The negative side of watching crime movies recently reflected in the action of a 21-year-old university undergraduate, Dammy
(surname withheld) when he hatched a plan to rob a first generation bank on the campus of one of the universities in the south western part of Nigeria.
The 400 level student planned to carry out a robbery operation in the bank after watching a movie entitled “44 Minutes” on a cable television. For a couple of weeks after watching the movie, all that occupied his mind was how to carry out the action in real life what he watched in the film. To accomplish this, he went to a security guard working with his targeted bank, with which he is also an account owner.
Aside the guard, Dammy spoke with an okada rider he was familiar with and asked him to get guns and more people for the robbery operation. Unknown to him, however, his conversations with the security guard were being monitored by the bank and the police. Before he could strike on the day picked for the operation, the Ambush Squad of the Oyo State Police Command nabbed him, the security guard and two of Dammy’s friends who were said to be privy to the plan.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on what led to his arrest, Dammy confessed that he was thinking of how to rob a bank. “The idea came to me when I watched a crime movie entitled 44 Minutes on a cable TV in my room in June. There was a day my generator suddenly went off and I lamented that I needed money. Yemi, a friend, who was in my room, jokingly said I should rob a bank to get money. My roommate, Emma, also said it was not possible. We joked about it and the day went by.
“But the statement created an impression in my mind and I could not think straight again, especially when I remembered how a bank robbery was carried out in the film I watched. I went to a security officer in [a first generation bank] within my campus to ask him if it was easy to rob a bank.
“He replied that it was not easy. At that point, I didn’t want to go on, but the security man said he would see what he could do about it to make it easy. To be candid, if he had said it would not be possible, I would have stopped.”
How we planned the robbery
“I don’t know how to handle a gun and I don’t have one. What I did was to call one of the okada riders who used to pick me anytime I needed their services. I told him I wanted to rob a bank and needed weapons, and he promised to provide two guns. He also said he would get two other bike men to work with him to convey us to the bank.
“I continued to discuss with the security man and he said he was going to make it easy for us to enter the bank without the security door detecting our guns, and would also disconnect the CCTV.
“We decided to strike on July 16 or 17. I was arrested while discussing with the security man somewhere within the campus. Before then, I did not see my bike man again and my phone got stolen so I could not even contact him.”
When asked how the movie he watched ended, he replied that the bank robbers were caught. When asked again if he did not know that the same thing was likely to happen to him, the boy said he never thought along that line. He was just captivated by the way the robbers operated successfully in the bank they went to.
One of his friends, Yemi (18) who was also arrested told Saturday Tribune: “What happened was that I went to charge my phone in Dammy’s room. His generator suddenly went off so he asked how he could get money to buy fuel and I told him I had no money and jokingly said that he should go and rob a bank. After I left his room, I did not know he was planning robbery. He never informed me of his plan.”
Dammy confirmed this, saying he relied on his bike man who promised to get him some people to work with him for the operation.
Dammy’s roommate, 21-year-old Emma was also mentioned as one of those who knew of Dammy’s plans to rob a bank. But he said he turned down his friend’s invitation to join him, and did not know he still went on with the plans. Speaking on how it started, Emma said: “I was dressing up to go to school one day when Dammy’s generator went off. I heard when Adeyemi said go and rob a bank. We then discussed movies and how gunmen rob banks.
“The following day, Dammy came to me and said he did not think I was really serious about the issue of robbing a bank. I replied him that I could never be involved in such a thing. Later, he told me that he had gone to see a security officer in a bank. I asked him what had gone into his head, demanding to know why he thought a security man would allow him to rob a bank he is getting his daily bread from. He then asked if I was in or out and I told him I was out. I didn’t take all his talks seriously until I was arrested.”
When asked what he intended using the money for, the young man replied: “To pay my departmental dues.” But he also said that his parents were taking good care of him.
The security guard, 27-year-old John (surname withheld) from Okitipupa, Ondo State also narrated how he became privy to Dammy’s plan. According to him, “on Monday, July 6, 2015, one of our bank customers, Dammy, came to me during working hours and said he wanted to discuss an issue with me. I told him I was busy and said he should give me his number and I would call him. After I closed from work, I called him and he described his hostel. I went there but did not see him. He later called me and asked me to meet him at a canteen.
“When I got there, he intimated me of his plan with some others to come and rob the bank I work in. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said I should disengage the CCTV and the security door so that they would not be captured. I thought it was a planned strategy to test my integrity but I later got to know through our chat that he really meant to do what he said. Then he told me “Mr John, anybody who f- -ks with Dammy will be killed”. It was at that point I started recording our conversation. He asked when we normally had enough cash; I told him I would find out. Again, he asked if our security doors allow metals to enter the banking hall, I said no. He said what of if the weapon is wrapped with carbon. He asked for the number of cashiers and a number of other questions. I asked for the number of the gang members coming for the operation and he said seven, including three bike men and two ladies.
“He said he would make arrangements for two to three pistols. He said he would pack the money himself and would give me a percentage. He was yet to tell me the percentage before we were arrested.”
Dammy corroborated the narration of the security man but denied the threat aspect.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on the arrest, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo state, Muhammad Musa Katsina, who apparently was disturbed by the way a movie influenced the young man so much that he wanted to rob a bank, decried the involvement of youths in crime.
“Dammy was lured into thinking of committing armed robbery because of the crime movies he had watched. He became motivated by the movies and planned to strike at a bank. But he didn’t know that the Ambush Squad was closing in on him. He fell into our net before he could strike.
“The boy only had one step into the world of crime. If police had not intervened, the story would have been very different. The boy and his friends were just day dreamers living in a world of fantasy. The whole plan failed immediately it was nurtured. If he had attempted to enter the bank, the police would have descended ruthlessly on the distressed bank with all their strength. And in this case, the fatality would have been on the side of the boys,” he stated.
Katsina urged parents to always question their children’s relationship with others. “The youth of today are struggling to move into tomorrow without achieving much for today,” he noted further.
(surname withheld) when he hatched a plan to rob a first generation bank on the campus of one of the universities in the south western part of Nigeria.
The 400 level student planned to carry out a robbery operation in the bank after watching a movie entitled “44 Minutes” on a cable television. For a couple of weeks after watching the movie, all that occupied his mind was how to carry out the action in real life what he watched in the film. To accomplish this, he went to a security guard working with his targeted bank, with which he is also an account owner.
Aside the guard, Dammy spoke with an okada rider he was familiar with and asked him to get guns and more people for the robbery operation. Unknown to him, however, his conversations with the security guard were being monitored by the bank and the police. Before he could strike on the day picked for the operation, the Ambush Squad of the Oyo State Police Command nabbed him, the security guard and two of Dammy’s friends who were said to be privy to the plan.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on what led to his arrest, Dammy confessed that he was thinking of how to rob a bank. “The idea came to me when I watched a crime movie entitled 44 Minutes on a cable TV in my room in June. There was a day my generator suddenly went off and I lamented that I needed money. Yemi, a friend, who was in my room, jokingly said I should rob a bank to get money. My roommate, Emma, also said it was not possible. We joked about it and the day went by.
“But the statement created an impression in my mind and I could not think straight again, especially when I remembered how a bank robbery was carried out in the film I watched. I went to a security officer in [a first generation bank] within my campus to ask him if it was easy to rob a bank.
“He replied that it was not easy. At that point, I didn’t want to go on, but the security man said he would see what he could do about it to make it easy. To be candid, if he had said it would not be possible, I would have stopped.”
How we planned the robbery
“I don’t know how to handle a gun and I don’t have one. What I did was to call one of the okada riders who used to pick me anytime I needed their services. I told him I wanted to rob a bank and needed weapons, and he promised to provide two guns. He also said he would get two other bike men to work with him to convey us to the bank.
“I continued to discuss with the security man and he said he was going to make it easy for us to enter the bank without the security door detecting our guns, and would also disconnect the CCTV.
“We decided to strike on July 16 or 17. I was arrested while discussing with the security man somewhere within the campus. Before then, I did not see my bike man again and my phone got stolen so I could not even contact him.”
When asked how the movie he watched ended, he replied that the bank robbers were caught. When asked again if he did not know that the same thing was likely to happen to him, the boy said he never thought along that line. He was just captivated by the way the robbers operated successfully in the bank they went to.
One of his friends, Yemi (18) who was also arrested told Saturday Tribune: “What happened was that I went to charge my phone in Dammy’s room. His generator suddenly went off so he asked how he could get money to buy fuel and I told him I had no money and jokingly said that he should go and rob a bank. After I left his room, I did not know he was planning robbery. He never informed me of his plan.”
Dammy confirmed this, saying he relied on his bike man who promised to get him some people to work with him for the operation.
Dammy’s roommate, 21-year-old Emma was also mentioned as one of those who knew of Dammy’s plans to rob a bank. But he said he turned down his friend’s invitation to join him, and did not know he still went on with the plans. Speaking on how it started, Emma said: “I was dressing up to go to school one day when Dammy’s generator went off. I heard when Adeyemi said go and rob a bank. We then discussed movies and how gunmen rob banks.
“The following day, Dammy came to me and said he did not think I was really serious about the issue of robbing a bank. I replied him that I could never be involved in such a thing. Later, he told me that he had gone to see a security officer in a bank. I asked him what had gone into his head, demanding to know why he thought a security man would allow him to rob a bank he is getting his daily bread from. He then asked if I was in or out and I told him I was out. I didn’t take all his talks seriously until I was arrested.”
When asked what he intended using the money for, the young man replied: “To pay my departmental dues.” But he also said that his parents were taking good care of him.
The security guard, 27-year-old John (surname withheld) from Okitipupa, Ondo State also narrated how he became privy to Dammy’s plan. According to him, “on Monday, July 6, 2015, one of our bank customers, Dammy, came to me during working hours and said he wanted to discuss an issue with me. I told him I was busy and said he should give me his number and I would call him. After I closed from work, I called him and he described his hostel. I went there but did not see him. He later called me and asked me to meet him at a canteen.
“When I got there, he intimated me of his plan with some others to come and rob the bank I work in. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said I should disengage the CCTV and the security door so that they would not be captured. I thought it was a planned strategy to test my integrity but I later got to know through our chat that he really meant to do what he said. Then he told me “Mr John, anybody who f- -ks with Dammy will be killed”. It was at that point I started recording our conversation. He asked when we normally had enough cash; I told him I would find out. Again, he asked if our security doors allow metals to enter the banking hall, I said no. He said what of if the weapon is wrapped with carbon. He asked for the number of cashiers and a number of other questions. I asked for the number of the gang members coming for the operation and he said seven, including three bike men and two ladies.
“He said he would make arrangements for two to three pistols. He said he would pack the money himself and would give me a percentage. He was yet to tell me the percentage before we were arrested.”
Dammy corroborated the narration of the security man but denied the threat aspect.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on the arrest, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo state, Muhammad Musa Katsina, who apparently was disturbed by the way a movie influenced the young man so much that he wanted to rob a bank, decried the involvement of youths in crime.
“Dammy was lured into thinking of committing armed robbery because of the crime movies he had watched. He became motivated by the movies and planned to strike at a bank. But he didn’t know that the Ambush Squad was closing in on him. He fell into our net before he could strike.
“The boy only had one step into the world of crime. If police had not intervened, the story would have been very different. The boy and his friends were just day dreamers living in a world of fantasy. The whole plan failed immediately it was nurtured. If he had attempted to enter the bank, the police would have descended ruthlessly on the distressed bank with all their strength. And in this case, the fatality would have been on the side of the boys,” he stated.
Katsina urged parents to always question their children’s relationship with others. “The youth of today are struggling to move into tomorrow without achieving much for today,” he noted further.
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