Lawrence Anini

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Lawrence Anini was a Nigerian bandit who terrorised Benin City in the 1980s along with his side kick Monday Osunbor. It is believed he had the power to disappear at will if he had a warning itch. He had a collaborator in Benin City called George Iyamu a divisional police officer. This was quite a shock to the community at the time. It highlighted more than ever the complicity of the Nigerian police in armed robbery operations in Nigeria.

[edit] Life

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 driving and became a skilled taxi driver in a few years. He became known as the law in Benin motor parks as a man who can control varied competing interest among motor park touts and operators. He later delved 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 and 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. By 1985, the ease of his criminal conducts and complicity of law enforcement officials in the criminal conducts of the gangs and that of the top echelons of the society parading scarce wealth of no known productive means was becoming a common sound bite in the rumor factories of the Nigerian society. Anini's rise propelled this idea among many, and he was viewed as a daredevil protected by powerful political figures. The complicity of the police is believed 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 bribe induced 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. On August, 1986, a fatal bank robbery linked to Anini was reported, a police officer and a child were killed in the process. The 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 9 police officers. His notoriety was partly enhanced by his will to kill officers including a botched attempt to kill an assistant Inspector of Police and a police commissioner; and his manipulation of political actions and inactions of the civil leadership. He wrote numerous letters to media houses, using political tones of Robin hood like words to describe his criminal acts. On December 3, 1986, he was caught at a house off the main street of Benin in company of six women friends. Anini was shot on the leg and was immediately transfered to a military hospital, one of his legs was later amputated. The president of the country, Babangida demanded a speedy trial, Anini by then was a prime symbol in the desire of the president to show a strong executive control of law and order. He was convicted of most of his charges and later executed.

[edit] References

• Otwin Marenin. The Anini Saga: Armed Robbery and the Reproduction of Ideology in Nigeria. The Journal of Modern African Studies > Vol. 25, No. 2 Jun., 1987.