Facebook Exposes Serial Nigerian Robber In U.K .Jailed 17 YearsOmar Famuyide

Omar Famuyide

United kingdom-based Nigerian Omar Oluwatobi Famuyide has been jailed for 17 years for armed robbery after his victim recognised him on Facebook.

Famuyide, 21, a serial violent armed robber, was caught following a two-month crime spree when one victim recognised him after his face popped up in the 'People You May Know' feed on one of his victims' social media pages.

A court heard he was one of two men who burst into the Ambassador's Relaxation Suite in Birmingham city centre on 13 July last year.

Famuyide and his accomplice assaulted two women inside and threatened them with a metal bar and a handgun before shooting at the building as they fled.

Famuyide then struck again a month later on 11 August when he walked up to a man in the High Gate area of the Birmingham city and held a gun to his head.

He demanded the keys to the victim's BMW before stealing the car, which was found by police two days later.

A firearm recovered from the vehicle was examined and found to be the gun that fired a bullet at the relaxation suite a month earlier.

Also found were keys to a Seat Leon, which was stolen by a man with a knife on the same night the BMW was taken.

The victim in that robbery contacted officers in August to say he recognised Famuyide from his feed on Facebook.

But when officers tried to arrest Famuyide he fled on foot through the city centre ditching a combat knife and a mobile phone as he ran away.

He was eventually caught and detectives search of his home in High Gate led to the discovery of a distinctive fisherman's style hat - identical to that worn by the offender during the Ambassador's raid.

A machete, a balaclava, a number of mobile phones and a further combat knife, identical to that he tried to discard during chase, were also recovered.

Famuyide was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court after being convicted of robbery, attempted robbery and possession of a firearm and a knife.

Detective Constable Rhiannon Daff, from West Midlands Police, said after the case: “Old fashioned detective work got us most of the way and we were able to build enough evidence to link all of the different items and offences, but we still didn't have a name.

“It was a crucial part of the investigation when one of the victims got in touch after recognising Famuyide on Facebook and was the final piece of the jigsaw that we were looking for.

“I want to commend all the victims who bravely came forward and gave evidence against someone who is clearly a dangerous, violent man.

“Famuyide is now quite rightly behind bars for a very long time.”

Famuyide of Wrentham Street, Highgate, had previously been found guilty of robbery, attempted robbery, two charges of possessing a firearm with intent and possessing a knife.

In 2012 as a teenager, Famuyide was locked up for terrorising shopkeepers with a "Rambo" knife as his gang targeted three Birmingham stores in a matter of hours. 

Judge Roderick Henderson said 18-year-old Famuyide brandished the "terrifying" hunting weapon during the raids, during which one victim had rings worth 400 pounds sterling ripped from his fingers. 

Sentencing him to four years then in a young offenders' institution, the judge told him: "On each occasion you, Famuyide, used a knife to threaten the people in the shops, it was a terrifying weapon; what people would describe as a Rambo or hunting knife."