Renowned dare devil robber, Shina Rambo revealed some of the
evil things he embarked on in his quest for power during his reign of terror in
the 80s and 90s.
Shina Rambo, now Mathew Oluwanifemi was a dreaded name for people who lived in the South West of Nigeria and even outside Nigeria, like Benin Republic and neighborhood in the 1990s. He was a hardened criminal, a terror and killer, one whom men of the security agencies will never forget in haste! A man mountain, towering about 6ft 5inch, well built, dark skinned and sweltering eyes, he carried out his operations, like a movie, in the broad day light, with sophisticated weapons, and bullet belts and explosives strapped roundabout him.
Shina Rambo, now Mathew Oluwanifemi was a dreaded name for people who lived in the South West of Nigeria and even outside Nigeria, like Benin Republic and neighborhood in the 1990s. He was a hardened criminal, a terror and killer, one whom men of the security agencies will never forget in haste! A man mountain, towering about 6ft 5inch, well built, dark skinned and sweltering eyes, he carried out his operations, like a movie, in the broad day light, with sophisticated weapons, and bullet belts and explosives strapped roundabout him.
He specialized in robbing exotic cars on highways and banks.
Nothing could stop him, not even security operatives, he was totally invincible.
Shina Rambo was born in the year 1958 to a military man who
was a bad egg in the service. His father was from Abeokuta in Ogun State, but
his mother was a native of Sabongida–Ora in Edo State.
His father had over 18 wives, as was the norm for soldiers
to impregnate virtually every woman they met where they were posted to. His father used his military
influence to rob innocent citizens, and always brought huge amount of money home. This used
to entice little Shina.
He recalls, "I remembered when I was about 7 years old,
my father came home with a lot of money, foreign currencies, with blood on it,
and they were using something like a woman's scarf to wipe it, then I asked
him, is this an animal's blood, or human blood? But he wouldn't answer me; they were just drinking, smoking, and merry making. "
Shina was already indoctrinated into the underworld by his
father at a tender age of 7 without him knowing it, as he would sit in front of
his son, to dismantle and assemble all sorts of weapons and then polishing them
in preparation for an operation. This went on for so long till one day, little
Shina, entered into his father's room, while he had stepped into the toilet,
and saw a dismembered gun on the floor. He sat down in front of it, and bit by
bit, he had assembled it effortlessly in no time at all.
His father came out of the toilet, and saw his son with a
loaded gun in his hands. Shina flashed back and said, "That day, my father
was so disappointed, that he wanted to kill me. He grabbed the gun from my hand
and `shot straight at me, but I miraculously escaped from the room. Then he
waited for me to be less alert, at night he came to my room with a machete and
tried to behead me, but once again, I escaped, but the machete caught my left
leg. (rolled up his trouser to show us the large scar that made everyone sighed in pity). It cut me so deep I
thought I was never going to walk again. That day, I knew I had graduated, all
that was left was to pull the trigger, and I was so eager. Shina Rambo became so notorious in no time, and
was hell bent on succeeding in his career as an armed robber that he went to any length
to secure spiritual powers for fortification to the extent of pounding over 27
live new born babies in the mortar with a pestle, cutting off about 100 human tongues
and cooking them to eat, visiting the spiritual river called; River of Life in
Ogoja, Cross Rivers State, living in an Iroko tree for days, and sleeping in the cemetery. He was
given a spiritual wife, who always followed him for any operation, she dressed like
an Alhaja, people thought she was human, but she was a spirit, that was why they
never saw her face.
He said she was his personal driver that she could drive from Nigeria to
Cotonou in the speed of light. Hear him. "I was involved in so many rituals, that I can't
start naming them now, I was so powerful, I went underground, inside trees hat
looked like a city, a lot of beautiful houses inside the tree, I had my own too. I went into a river called River of
life in Ogoja, where a lot of politicians and wealthy men used to come, I had several
personalities, I could change my form whenever I wanted to, that's why the police were busy
killing innocent people, and thought they were killing Shina Rambo.
The nine herbalists
that gave me that power, I became stronger than them. One day, I went to their
shrines, and killed all of them so that they won't reveal my secrets. I had too
many powers; my spiritual wife could drive any car in this world or out of it,
no police vehicle, or anyone for that matter, could ever chase and catch me during an operation. She was out of this world, and when she had completed
her operation, they took her away from me. I could give anything to get powers,
and the elders knew, so they also gave me anything I wanted. I once beheaded hundred
men, and gave them the heads fresh, they were so happy with me that they made
me invincible. No matter the kind of bullet you shot at me, it was just like
pure water on my body. I could give anything to get power, but of all the things
I did to get power, the one that still breaks my heart the most is sleeping
with my mother.
“My father is dead now, but my mother is still alive, and
she lives with me, she is 85 years old, whenever I set my eyes on her, I just
start crying. I can`t bear it. “
Shina Rambo was a raging terror, he was infallibly
dangerous, the police dreaded him, both in Nigeria, and Benin Republic, his
place of interest for business. He would go to police stations in broad daylight
and kill every policeman there, drive to check points and open fire on every policeman
on duty; he didn't like the police at all, and was never afraid of them. He
operated in broad day light armed to the teeth looking like Johny Rambo in the
popular Sylvester Stalone movie, "First Blood". He once robbed 40
exotic cars in one day and drove all of them in a convoy from Lagos to Cotonou,
unstopped. He was powerful; he was wealthy, and impenetrable. He was a tin god,
apparently belched from hell, we all dreaded him. He had a wife and three
children, but he lost all of them in one day during a bloody police raid whilst
he was away on operation.
His wife was his stabilizing factor as his life changed
afterwards. He says "my wife was everything to me, I was forbidden by the elders to sleep with any other woman
apart from her, I could gather about 50 women around me in a hotel, and they
will just be playing with me, we would smoke, drink, and sniff cocaine. I would give them money, but I never
slept with them. I will go back home to my wife and sleep with her.
That was why the
police never caught me. She knew my job, she knew what I was, I never left them
alone at night. I operated in the day time and go back home to my family at
night. I had everything, I was very wealthy, I once spent 50 million naira in a day. I did it a lot, there was one day that we were
coming from an operation and it seemed as if my powers were going to fail me, the police
and the army were almost closing in on us, so we had to drive into a crowd and threw
millions of naira in the air, there was commotion, everybody was busy picking naira notes, even
the police, until we escaped. I was too rich, but anything the devil gives you never lasts,
he will collect more from you, it's only the devil that will give you Fila, (cap)
and ask for Iro and Buba.(wrapper and top).
I lost everything, all the money, my family; I was so powerful the police
couldn't catch me, but I lost it all. I had to surrender myself to the police, and I was
arrested and jailed for 11 years. When I was serving my jail term in Agodi Prisons, Ibadan,
Prophet T.O Obadare came visiting, and having been encouraged several times
by the Christian brothers and sisters in the prison to give my life to Christ,
he prayed for me and converted me, and changed my name to Oluwanifemi, and it
was so miraculous. The next day, I woke up and started speaking in tongues. It
was during the time of former president Olusegun Obasanjo that we were granted
freedom.”
The revival, where Shina Rambo gave this exclusive
confession was on an open ground revival in the ancient city of Ibadan, and right
there, was Evangelist Mathew Oluwanifemi, the once feared Shina Rambo, clad in
a loose fitting shirt, black pants and a pair of leather sandals with a black
Holy Biblein his hands, gigantic dark skinned and bald headed, still had those
fiery looks, and stealth movement.
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