The Ancient City of Benin

George McLaurin, the first black man admitted to the University of Oklahoma in 1948, was forced to sit in a corner far from his white classmates.

But his name remains on the honor roll as one of the three best students of the university. These are his words: "Some colleagues would look at me like I was an animal, no one would give me a word, the teachers seemed like they were not even there for me, nor did they always take my questions when I asked. But I devoted myself so much that afterwards, they began to look for me to give them explanations and to clear their questions."

Lesson: Forcing yourself to be accepted by people is a waste of time. Just focus and add value to yourself and people shall come seeking your help...
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Content of Great Africa

The Portuguese visited Benin City around 1485. Benin grew rich during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Due to trade within southern Nigeria which the Oba had influence over, as well as through trade with Europeans, mostly in pepper and ivory.

In the early 16th century, the Ọba sent an ambassador to Lisbon, and the King of Portugal sent Christian missionaries to Benin. Some residents of Benin could still speak a pidgin Portuguese because they learnt it from the traders that came into Benin and later pidgin English in the late 19th century.

Benin was the city that created pidgin Portuguese and Pidgin English so as to be able to communicate with the Europeans.

Credit to Great Benin.

The cradle of Black Civilization.

A Brief History About The .

How 75 Nigerians who revolted against slavery chose to drown in the U.S

The Igbo Landing refers to the mass su***de of Igbo slaves in 1803 who chose to die rather than live a life of slavery.

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Gathered In.

Legend has it that in 1803, at St. Simons Island, Georgia, a group of 75 Igbo warriors from what is now Nigeria committed mass su***de by drowning rather than begin life in America as slaves.

They survived the Middle Passage only to walk willingly into the sea wearing chains.

Imagine feeling so compelled to give up your physical mortal life, your body, your flesh, and surrender your soul to Eternity to join the Ancestors rather than be in bo***ge.

“The water brought us. The water will take us home.”

Profound. Sad. Tragic. Empowering. Painful. Poignant. And powerful all at once. 💯💔

Credit to https://fb.me/PhilipGreenChicago

***ge

The Richest Man In History.

An African King called From (1312) whose worth is over $400 Billion.

Musa Keita came into power in 1312. When he was crowned, he was given the name Mansa meaning .

It is said that Mansa Musa had conquered 24 cities, each with surrounding districts containing villages and estates, during his reign.

Mansa Musa was in charge of a lot of land. To put it into perspective, he ruled parts of modern day , , , , , , , , and .

His wealth was made known to the world during 1324 pilgrimage to mecca, crossing a distance of nearly 4000 miles. His procession reportedly included 60,000 men including 12,000 slaves who each carried four pounds of gold bars and heralds dressed in silks who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and handled bags.

Musa provided all necessities for the procession, feeding the entire company of men and animals. Those animals included 80 camels which each carried between 50 and 300 pounds of gold dust. Musa gave the gold to the poor he met along his route.

Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to , including and , but also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built a mosque each and every Friday.
But Musa’s generous actions inadvertently devastated the economy of the regions through which he passed. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal for the next decade. Prices on goods and wares greatly inflated.

To rectify the gold market, on his way back from Mecca, Musa borrowed all the gold he could carry from money-lenders in Cairo, at high interest. This is the only time recorded in history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean.

After reigning for 25 years, Mansa Musa died in 1337. He was succeeded by his son, Maghan I. The king’s rich legacy persisted for generations and to this day, there are mausoleums, libraries, and mosques that stand as a testament to this golden age of Mali’s history.

The Benin Traditional Council announces the IGUE Festival 2019 Programs.

We Pray God and our Ancestors to accept the prayers and supplications of our Our Oba, Enigies and Edo People.

Iselogbe, ogbe ma vbe dia ru

Oba Gha to Kpere!!!
Isee!!!

Daughter of Oba Eweka II

Wearing Commemorative Textile from Coronation of King George VI, May 1937

City,
EEPA 2009-007-1772

Credit goes to Chief S.O Alonge

Another Piece of History That Suggest The Origin of The Word
The Credit goes to - Ojealaro Stewart Friday

Way back in history, during the times of the Ogiso’s. When Chief Oliha led a delegation to go and entreat Prince Izoduwa ( Ekalladerhan the son of Ogiso Owodo ) at Ife to come back home and mount the throne of his fathers, there was no report or record that they spoke any language other than the Benin language to Izoduwa ( Oduduwa ) and no report of an interpreter between them either. This is because Oduduwa is a true son of Igodomigodo and he understands the language of his fathers.

He however declined the offer but not without appreciating the fact that he owes his family and people of Benin the duty to see that a descendant of the Ogiso Family sits on the Benin throne. The best solution he offered was to send Omonoyan ( Oranyan or Oramiyan ) which at a later date to go and sit on the throne of their ancestors.

Oduduwa being a true son of Igodomigodo. A man brought up in the ways of his people, He can speak and understand his fathers Dialet. But none of his children ( Oramiyan inclusive ) could speak the Idu tongue. The children of Izoduwa grew up speaking the language of their mother not that of their father being that their mother is an Ife woman. That’s when trouble started. You can imagine the surprise and discomfort between the Benins when the son sent by their rightful king Oduduwa cannot speak or understand his father's language and not being able to communicate with his father people.

He was communicating with them in his mother's tongue and expected them to understand him. This is one of the vexatious problems that prompted Oramiyan to leave later because they wanted him to stop speaking his mother language to his father's people. The courtiers were the ones that first started spreading the news. They tell people that Oba Oramiyan can only communicate in his mother's tongue. Mother of Oba in Benin is “IYEOBA” which can be spelt otherwise as “IYOOBA”.

At that time, anybody who speaks Oramiyan's language to the Benins is said to speaking the Oba Mother Dialect “ EWI IYOOBA” meaning IYOOBA language( Oba's mother language ) That was how all the people in the southwest got their name IYOOBA from Benin because they speak the language of the mother ( NOT FATHER ) of the Oba of Benin.

It was stated that the word “YORUBA” is an anglicized form of .

Please Note:
History will always be History, let not fight over it but appreciate the little piece we could hold onto.

If you have other version of this story, kindly contact us.

Another Piece of history!

A man called OLAUDAH EQUIANO (c.1745–March 31, 1797).

He was a writer and abolitionist from the Eboe (Igbo) region of what is today South-Eastern Nigeria. At age 11, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery, first in his homeland, but later in the British colony of Virginia.

In Virginia, he was sold to a Royal Navy officer, Lieutenant Michael Pascal, who renamed him 'Gustavus Vassa' after the 16th-century Swedish king. Equiano travelled the oceans with Pascal for eight years, during which time he was baptised and learned to read and write.

Pascal then sold Equiano to a ship captain in London, who took him to Montserrat, where he was sold to the prominent merchant Robert King. While working as a deckhand, valet and barber for King, Equiano being a true Eastern Nigerian who doesn’t need lessons on how to trade. He earned money by trading on the side. In only three years, he made enough money to buy his own freedom. Equiano then spent much of the next 20 years travelling the world, including trips to Turkey and the Arctic.

In 1786 in London. He became involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was a prominent member of the 'Sons of Africa'. A group of 12 black men who campaigned for abolition.

In 1789 he published his autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African'. He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely popular, helped the abolitionist cause, and made Equiano a wealthy man. It is one of the earliest books published by a black African writer.

In 1792, Equiano married an Englishwoman, Susanna Cullen, and they had two daughters. Equiano died on March 31, 1797.

Beautiful History:

Queen Amina Of Zaria

Queen Amina of Zaria was the first woman to become the Sarauniya (queen) in a male-dominated society. She expanded the territory of the Hausa people of north Africa to its largest borders in history. Much of what is known of Queen Amina is based on information related in the Kano Chronicles. Other details are pulled from the oral traditions of Nigeria. As a result, the memory of Queen Amina has assumed legendary proportions in her native Hausaland and beyond. The modern state of Nigeria has immortalized Amina by erecting a statue of her, spear in hand, on a horse, in the centre of Lagos.

The seven original states of Hausaland—Katsina, Daura, Kano, Zazzau, Gobir, Rano and Garun Gabas— cover an area of approximately 500 square miles and comprise the heart of Hausaland. In the 16th century, Queen Bakwa Turunku, Amina’s mother, built the capital of Zazzau at Zaria, named after her younger daughter. Eventually, the entire state of Zazzau was renamed Zaria, which is now a province in present-day Nigeria.

Amina was born around 1533 in Zaria. She lived approximately 200 years prior to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate federation that governed Nigeria during the period of British colonial rule following the Islamic jihad (holy war) that overtook the region in the 19th century. She was born to the ruler, Bakwa of Turunku, who lived in the city state of Zazzau. The family was wealthy as a result of trading in imported metals, cloth, cola, salt, horses and imported metals. When her father died in 1566, the crown was conferred upon Amina’s younger brother, Karama. Although her father’s reign was characterised by peace and prosperity, Amina nonetheless chose to spend her time honing her military skills with the warriors of the Zazzau cavalry. This led to her eventually emerging as a leader of the Zazzau cavalry, during which time she accumulated great wealth and numerous military accolades. Upon the death of her brother after a 10 year rule, Amina had matured into a fierce warrior and earned the respect of the Zazzau military, so she was able to assume the reign of the kingdom.

The context of Queen Amina’s leadership was pre-colonial Nigeria, where men did not feel threatened when women were in powerful positions, as it was usually understood that they deserved to be there because of age, kinship or merit, not gender. Women could even oust men who were not performing their duties effectively. While socially and economically, pre-colonial Nigerian societies clearly delineated women’s and men’s roles this did not preclude women from asserting their authority or themselves.

At the time of Amina’s reign, Zazzau was situated at the crossroads of three major trade corridors of northern Africa, connecting the Sahara with the remote markets of the southern forest lands and the western Sudan. The rise and fall of the powerful and more dominant Songhai people, and the resulting competition for control of trade routes, incited continual warring among the Hausa people and their neighbouring settlements during the 15th and 16th centuries

In the continual competition for power among the Hausa states, Zaria for a time achieved predominance under Queen Amina] ‘[She] led her first military charge a few months after assuming power. For the rest of her [34 year] reign, she continued to fight and expand her kingdom to [its] greatest in history. Heading up an army of 20,000 men, she tried to annex several surrounding cities up to Nupe, and ruled Kano and Katsina at the cost of 34 years of almost uninterrupted warfare.The objectives of her conquests were twofold: extension of Zazzau beyond its primary borders and reduction of conquered cities to vassal status.

The expansion of Amina’s kingdom made it the trading centre for all of southern Hausaland, spanning the traditional east-to-west trans-Saharan axis and guaranteeing Zaria’s prosperity. Amina brought unheard-of wealth to the land; one description cites a tribute payment of 40 eunuchs and 10,000 kola nuts. She boosted her kingdom’s wealth and power with gold, slaves and new crops. Because her people were talented metal workers, Amina introduced metal armour, including iron helmets and chain mail, to her army.

Amina is also credited as the architect of the strong earthen walls around the city, which became the prototype for the fortifications used in all Hausa states. She built many of these fortifications, later known as ganuwar Amina or “Amina’s walls’, around various conquered cities. Many of these walls remain in existence to this day.

Walling was a vitally important consideration in the development of African urban life. Walls gave definition to settlements and prevented uncontrollable sprawl. They also provided psychological and physical security. In unstable times, they afforded protection against theft or destruction and in peacetime, they controlled entry and exit.

Also, politically, walls were considered prestigious, their size a measure of a ruler’s ability to command the labour of his or her subjects. The walls constructed by Queen Amina of Zaria not only protected Hausa markets from external threats emanating from the south, but also became an enduring testimony to her glorious reign.

According to legend, Amina refused to marry and instead took a temporary husband from the legions of vanquished foes after every battle.

Legend also [records] that she died during a military campaign at Atagara near Bida in Nigeria. Her exploits earned her the moniker ‘Amina, daughter of Nikatau, a woman as capable as a man.’ Her legendary escapades made her the model for the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. Today, her memory represents the spirit and strength of womanhood.

Queen Amina undoubtedly managed to forge and imprint a legacy that contradicts all stereotypes of women’s leadership in patriarchal African societies, where the inequality that women face affects virtually all aspects of society. There is significant evidence that women were allowed to make ample contributions to the social, political and economic structure of their societies in pre-colonial Nigeria, if not with the same clout as men. Where they were prevented from being openly active, women used loopholes inherent in their social structures to gain and maintain some level of power. This changed to a large extent with the advent of Islam and, later, British colonial rule, causing women to suffer important setbacks.

The obstacles facing women in Nigeria and across Africa may persist, yet the legacies and examples of women such as Amina point to the possibilities that exist for African women to reshape the destinies of their societies and communities.

The exhibition displays for Independence House in Lagos (1928-1991).

Sculptured By Felix Idubor.

He was a Nigerian sculptor from Benin, part of a group of young artists in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s who raised awareness of the African artistic tradition at the time of decolonisation and independence.

He is considered one of the pioneers of Nigerian contemporary art. The exhibition displays this photograph of his 1965 bas-relief for Independence House in Lagos.

THE GREAT WALL OF BENIN - 1400 AD

The Guinness Book of Records (1974 edition) described the walls of Benin City and its surrounding kingdom as the world’s largest earth works carried out. Benin City walls were at
one point "Four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops

For over 400 years the Walls existed, it protected the inhabitants of the kingdom, particularly, the traditions and civilisations of the Edo people until it was ravaged in 1897 by the British.

The walls which are four times longer than the Great Wall of China, are a combination of strong materials like ramparts and moats, which predated the use of modern earth-moving equipment and technology, and were used for defensive purposes.

Happy 3rd Coronation Anniversary to Our Royal Majesty. 🔥🔥

Ōmō Nōr Ōba Nēē Edo,
Uku Akpōlōr kpōlōr,
Oba Akenzua II

We are delighted to share the joy of this anniversary with you and the entire Bini Kingdom. Your Royalty and candour as a true leader of our ancestral heritage bestow on us.

May the glory of our Majesty continue to shine everyday like the brightness of the sun.

Long Live Your Majesty!
Long Live Benin Kingdom!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!

ŌBA KHA TŌŌ KPĒRE!
ISĒĒ!!

THE OBA OF BENIN KINGDOM,
OMO N'OBA N'EDO UKU AKPOLOKPOLO,
OBA EWUARE II HAS REINSTATED HRH STEPHEN AVENBUAN OHANGBON, AS THE ENOGIE (DUKE) OF EVBUOMOMA DUKEDOM.

CONGRATULATIONS DAD!

History remains as part of our legacy.

Released in 1880, this is the very first publicly-sold bottle of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. It contained about 3.5 grammes of co***ne.

Artifacts of the Great Benin Kingdom.
1700 AD to 1897 AD

NAME: ORNAMENTAL MASK OF A LEOPARD HEAD.

| Age: 1700 AD to 1897 AD
| Dimensions: 7.25″ (18.4cm) high
| Material: Brass
| Origin: South Central Nigeria

These artifacts holds strong memories and events of the . The metal workers were among the finest craftsmen on the African continent and still rank among the very highest echelons of ancient craftsmanship.

Their grasp of complex technological processes, combined with a distinctive and visually stunning sense of the aesthetic makes their works among the greatest of African art treasures.

Queen Ohan Akenzua, royal wife of Oba Akenzua I on trip to London, England.

A young Queen Ohan Akenzua has wrapped herself in a striped textile to keep warm while visiting England.

Alonge historical photographs. It has been photographed on glass plates to maintain an archive and a visual record of significant persons and moments in the history of Benin.

| Photographer unknown, c. 1956
| Modern print from glass plate copy negative
| Chief S.O. Alonge Collection

A Piece Of History

Lawrence Anini: A brutal Arm robber

Exactly 32 years ago today, the notorious bandit who terrorised Benin City and old Bendel State the 80s , Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini A.K.A. "Ovbigbo" or "the Law" and some members of his gang were executed by firing squad after being convicted by the defunct Bendel Armed Robbery and Fi****ms Tribunal presided over by Justice James Omo-Agege

Anini was born in a village about 20 miles from Benin City in present-day Edo State. He migrated to Benin at an early age, learned to drive and became a skilled taxi driver. Anini became known in Benin motor parks as a man who could control the varied competing interests among motor park touts and operators. He later dived into the criminal business in the city and soon became a driver and transporter for gangs, criminal godfathers and thieves. Later on, he decided to create his own gang which included, Monday Osunbor, Friday Ofege, Smallie ,Henry Ekponwan, Eweka and Alhaji Zed Zed or Zegezege who was never captured. They started out as car hijackers, bus robbers and bank thieves. Gradually, he extended his criminal acts to other towns and cities far north and east of Benin.

The complicity of the police is believed to have triggered Anini’s reign of terror in 1986. In early 1986, two members of his gang were tried and prosecuted against an earlier under-the-table ‘agreement’ with the police to destroy evidence against the gang members. The incident, and Anini’s view of police betrayal, is believed to have spurred retaliatory actions by Anini. In August, 1986, a fatal bank robbery linked to Anini was reported in which a police officer (Nathaniel Egharevba)and others were killed. That same month, two officers on duty were shot at a barricade while trying to stop Anini’s car. During a span of three months, he was known to have killed nine police officers.

In an operation in August 1986, the Anini team struck at First Bank, Sabongida-Ora, where they carted away N2,000. But although the amount stolen was seen as chicken feed, many persons were killed. On September 6, same year, the Anini gang snatched a Peugeot 504 car from Albert Otoe, the driver of the famous super cop Assistant Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben. In snatching the car, they killed the driver and went to hide his co**se somewhere. It was not until three months later that the skeleton of the driver was spotted 16 kilometers away from Benin City, along the Benin-Agbor highway. A day after this attack, Anini, operating in a Passat car believed to have been stolen, also effected the snatching of another Peugeot 504 car near the former FEDECO office, in Benin.

Two days later, the Anini men killed two policemen in Orhiowon Local Government of the state. Still in that month, three different robbery attacks, all pointing to Anini’s involvement, took place. They include the murder of Frank Unoarumi, a former employee of the Nigerian Observer newspapers; the killing of Mrs. Remi Sobanjo, a chartered accountant, and the stealing of the Mercedes Benz car in Benin, of the Ughelli monarch, the Ovie. Before September 1986 drew to a close, Anini struck at a gas station along Wire Road, Benin, where he stole a substantial part of the day’s sales. He shot the station’s attendant and gleefully started spraying his b***y along the road for people to pick. The height of Anini’s exploits, however, took place on October 1, 1986, the Independence Day when the state’s Commissioner of Police, Casmir Akagbosu was ambushed by the gang in Benin riddled his convoy in a hail of bullets. The police boss survived the attacks with serious injuries. Earlier that day also, the Anini men had gunned down a police man within the city

"The Law", as he was nicknamed, during an operation that went bad reportedly had to escape from the police by driving in reverse for a greater part of the distance from Agbor (Delta State) to Benin City (Edo State).
Also, on October 21 of same year, the Anini robbery gang terminated the life of a Benin-based medical doctor, A.O Emojeve when they gunned him down along Textile Mill Road, in Benin. Not done, Anini and gang went and robbed the Agbor branch of African Continental Bank and carted away about N46, 000. A day after the operation, Anini, The Law, turned to a ‘Father Christmas’ as he strew wads of naira notes on the ground for free pick by market men and women at a village near Benin. Anini’s image thus loomed larger than life, dwarfing those of Ishola Oyenusi, the king of robbers in the 1970s and Youpelle Dakuro, the army deserter who masterminded the most vicious daylight robbery,at Boulous Enterprises in Lagos in 1978, in which two policemen were killed. Anini thus spearheaded a four-month reign of terror between August and December 1986. Anini also reportedly wrote numerous letters to media houses using political tones of Robin Hood-like words, to describe his criminal acts.

Worried by the seeming elusiveness of Anini and his gang members, the military President, General Ibrahim Babangida then ordered a massive manhunt for the kingpin and his fellow robbers. The police thus went after them, combing every part of Bendel State where they were reportedly operating and living. The whole nation was gripped with fear of the robbers and their daredevil exploits.

However, Police manhunt failed to stop their activities; the more they were hunted, the more intensified their activities became. Some of the locals in the area even began to tell stories of their invincibility and for a while, it felt like they were never going to be caught. However, at the conclusion of a meeting of the Armed Forces Ruling Council , the Nation's then highest ruling body in October 1986, General Babangida turned to the Inspector- General of Police, Etim Inyang, and asked, ‘My friend, where is Anini?’ Apperently embarrassed, IGP Iyang could to only tell his Commander in Chief that "We are still looking for him sir". IGP Iyang was soon tender his notice of retirement from the force.

At about this time, Nigerian newspapers and journals were also publishing various reports and editorials on the ‘Anini Challenge’, the ‘Anini Saga’, the ‘Anini Factor’, ‘Lawrence Anini – the Man, the Myth’, ‘Anini, and ‘Lawrence Anini: A Robin Hood in Bendel’. The Guardian New papers asked, emphatically, in one of its reports: ‘Will they ever find Anini, “The Law”?’.

An African Proverb says "everyday for the thief ,one day for the owner, Anini's reign of terror was eventually brought to an end with his arreste by a police officer , Superintendent of Police, Kayode Uanreroro on December 3, 1986, at No 26, Oyemwosa Street, opposite Iguodala Primary School, Benin City, in company with six women. Acting on a tip-off from the locals, the policeman went straight to the house where Anini was hiding and apprehended him with very little resistance. Uanreroro led a crack 10-man team to the house, knocked on the door of the room, and Anini himself, clad in underpants, opened the door. “Where is Anini,” the police officer quickly enquired. It was believed that his girl friend had a hand in his arrest. Many are of the opinion that the girlfriend collaborated with the police and took Anini's charms away before the police arrived. Dazed as he was caught off guard and having no escape route, Anini all the same tried to be smart. “Oh, Anini is under the bed in the inner room”. As he said it, he made some moves to walk past Uanreroro and his team. In the process, he shoved and head-butted the police officer but it was an exercise in futility. Uanreroro promptly reached for his gun, stepped hard on Anini’s right toes and shot at his left ankle. Anini surged forward but the policemen took hold of him and put him in a sitting position. They then pumped more bullets into his shot leg and almost severed the ankle from his entire leg. Already, anguished by the excruciating pains, the policemen asked him, “Are you Anini?” And he replied, “My brother, I won’t deceive you; I won’t tell you lie, I’m Anini.”

He was from there taken to the police command headquarters where the state’s Police Commissioner, Parry Osayande, was waiting. While in the police net, Anini who had poor command of English and could only communicate in pidgin, made a whole lot of revelations. He disclosed, for instance that Osunbor, who had been arrested earlier, was his deputy, saying that Osunbor actually shot and wounded the former police boss of the state, Akagbosu

Anini was shot in the leg, transferred to a military hospital, and had one of his legs amputated. That was after Monday Osunbor was also captured. When Anini’s hideout was searched, police recovered assorted charms, including the one he usually wore around his waist during “operations”. It was instructive that after Anini was captured and dispossessed of his charms, the man who terrorised a whole state and who was supposed to be fearless suddenly became so lilly livered and started singing like a sparrow, making confessions. This was against public expectation of a daredevil hoodlum who would remain defiant to the very end.

Shortly after the arrest of Anini and co, the dare-devil robbers began to squeal, revealing the roles played by key police officers and men, in the aiding and abetting of criminals in Bendel State and the entire
country. Due to the amputation of his leg, Anini was confined to a wheelchair throughout his trial.
Anini particularly revealed that Chief Supretendent of Police Iyamu, who was the most senior police officer shielding the robbers, would reveal police secrets to them and then, give them logistic supports such as arms, to carry out robbery operations.

He further revealed that Iyamu, after each operation, would join them in sharing the loot. It was further exposed how Iyamu planned to kill Christopher Omeben, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Intelligence and Investigation. But Iyamu was later to be disappointed as the assailants dispatched to eliminate Omeben were only able to kill his driver, Otue, a sergeant. Iyamu, whom the robbers fondly referred to as ‘Baba’, reportedly had choice buildings in Benin City; being how he invested the loots he obtained from men of the underworld. Iyamu, on his part, denied ever knowing and collaborating with Anini. But Anini stood his ground .Of the 10 police officers Anini implicated, five were convicted. The robbery suspects, including Iyamu, were sentenced to death.


But in passing his judgement, Justice Omo-Agege remarked, “Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it would be of unblessed memory. Few people if ever, would give the name to their children.” The ex*****on of Anini and the remaining members of his gang took place on the last Saturday of March ,1987. Osunbor and CSP Iyamu had been executed few weeks earlier.