The Criminal Who Smiled at the Firing Squad (Dr. Ishola Oyenusi)

The program

Before Anini, before the names that dominated Nigeria's crime headlines decades later, there was Dr. Ishola Oyenusi.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Oyenusi became one of Nigeria's most notorious armed robbers. His name was linked to bank robberies, violent hold-ups, repeated prison escapes, and a gang that operated across Lagos and beyond.

But who was the man behind the nickname, and how did his criminal career come to an end in 1971?

In this episode, we trace Dr. Ishola Oyenusi's rise, the robberies that made him infamous, his final arrest, and the public execution that became part of Nigeria's crime history.

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