Ten members of a notorious phone-robbery syndicate, including four UK-based Nigerians, have been sentenced to a combined 55 years in prison by the Kingston Crown Court in the United Kingdom for a series of violent store robberies.
According to a statement released by the UK Metropolitan Police on Monday, the convicted individuals — David Akintola, Ayomide Olaribiro, Olabiyi Obasa, David Okewole, James Adodo, Robert Hills, Nelson Joel, Michael Babo, Mushtakim Miah, and Laville Bloise — were behind a string of coordinated phone store robberies that terrorized several areas of London between September and November 2024.
The group primarily targeted EE mobile stores, using threats of violence to coerce staff into opening secured stock rooms before fleeing with high-value mobile phones and electronic devices worth an estimated £240,000.
Detectives were able to connect the suspects to the crimes using DNA evidence, call data, and vehicle tracking records. Surveillance teams later observed the gang preparing for another robbery, leading to the arrest of four members in the act at an EE store in Kilburn on November 19, 2024.
Subsequent searches at the suspects’ homes uncovered stolen devices and additional evidence linking them to multiple robberies. Ten individuals were charged, and eight of them pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob on January 30, 2025.
They were sentenced on Friday, November 7, with the following jail terms:
- James Adodo, 10 years
- David Akintola, 6 years and 6 months
- Michael Babo, 6 years and 10 months
- Robert Hills, 5 years and 3 months
- Ayomide Olaribiro, 4 years and 6 months
- Nelson Joel, 3 years and 3 months
- Olabiyi Obasa, 3 years and 6 months
- David Okewole, 7 years and 6 months
Police investigators described the convictions as a significant breakthrough against organized retail crime in London, warning that similar criminal groups would face equally tough sentences
