LAWRENCE ANINI, Nigeria’s Most Notorious Armed Robber Part 2

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BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS

Born around 1962 (some records indicate 1960), Nigeria's most legendary armed robber hailed from the town of Orogho, one of the seven communities in the oil-rich Orogho Dukedom in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State (then, it was called Bendel State which was later split into Edo and Delta States on the 27th of August 1991 by the Ibrahim Babangida regime). Orhionmwon is about 20 miles from Benin City and is headed by the Enogie (Duke) a blood relation of the Oba of Benin. Anini was born into the Owuo family quarters. An only son of his Evbueisi-born mother, he had two sisters.

Tiny Anini was brought to Benin where he was admitted at the Oza Primary School but from a young age, he started manifesting the signs of truancy. He struggled to finish his primary school then entered the Igiedumu Secondary School. He did not spend more than three years when he dropped out of school, preferring to be an apprentice at a local mechanic workshop. That was around 1976. But after about three months, his master, David Isiokherhe, booted him out of the workshop. Anini had started stealing.

On that fateful day, a sum of N7 (seven naira) belonging to one of the other apprentices at the workshop suddenly vanished like a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The frantic owner raised an alarm upon discovering that his money was missing.

But the criminal lad called Anini would not confess. He lied that the money was given to him by his mother to procure some medications for her. Isiokherhe then threatened to bring out some 'voodoo' to identify and nail the culprit. At that juncture, Anini owned up and confessed to the theft. A search was conducted and N5 was found on Anini. He had 'jeunsoked' the remaining N2. His master fired him as an apprentice.

GROWING UP

Omorogieve Obayowana was the head of Anini's village and according to his accounts, Anini's father died when he was still a young boy. Anini would later be raised by an uncle he came to regard as his father. Later on, he would leave the village for the city of Benin in search of greener pasture. He started work as a lorry driver (some say taxi driver) after his master fired him and slowly transformed into a leader of the local motor parks, controlling and commanding touts. When politics came back to the arena in 1979, the politicians found good use of Anini as a political thug and his hooliganism paid off with him learning the mastery of firearms use in the process.

Later, following the sudden overthrow of the politicians in the early 1980s and banning of politics in 1984 by the Buhari regime the highly-skilled driver (now of of criminal gangs and godfathers) discovered that armed robbery was far more lucrative and decided to form his own deadly gang. He sealed a pact with corrupt police officers and ruled with reckless abandon. He would then swear allegiance to a bloody profession that would bring him wealth, fame and doom. Highway robberies, car jackings, bank raids, Anini was a specialist in all aspects of pilfering with the gun.