{{Short description|Nigerian bandit (c. 1960–1987)}} {{about||the village in Buzău County|Cozieni|the village in Hînceşti district|Lăpuşna, Hînceşti|the district headquarters of the Dibang Valley District in Arunachal Pradesh|Anini}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Lawrence Anini | image = | image_caption = | birth_name = Lawrence Anini | birth_date = 1960 | birth_place = Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria | death_date = {{death date |1987|03|29|df=y}} | death_place = Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria | death_cause = Execution by firing squad | spouse = | children = 2<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Adesina |first1=Michael |title=I'm proud of my father, Anini's son declares after 32 years |url=https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/04/21/im-proud-of-my-father-aninis-son-declares-after-32-years/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|newspaper=P.M. News|access-date=11 May 2021 |date=21 April 2019}}</ref> | conviction = Armed Robbery and Firearms | other_names = {{ubl|The Law|Ovbigbo}} | partners = Monday Osunbor, Friday Ofege, Smallie, Henry Ekponwan, Eweka and Alhaji Zed Zed | conviction_penalty = Death }}
'''Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini''' (c. 1960 – March 29, 1987)<ref name=ncjrs>{{cite journal | url=https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=116195 | title=Wound Ballistics, Reasonable Force and Anini's Incapacitation | author=P E Igbinovia | journal=International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice | date=Spring 1988 | volume=12 | issue=1 | pages=131–135 | doi=10.1080/01924036.1988.9688886 | url-access=subscription | archive-date=2016-03-04 | access-date=2012-11-16 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094731/https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=116195 | url-status=dead }}</ref> was a Nigerian bandit who terrorised Benin City in the 1980s along with his sidekick, Monday Osunbor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orodare |first=Michael |date=2021-04-13 |title=Lawrence Anini - the 26-year-old notorious robber who terrorized Nigeria |url=https://features.neusroom.com/lawrence-anini/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=Neusroom Features |language=en-US}}</ref> He was captured and executed for his crimes.
==Arrest== On December 3, 1986, he was caught at a house in Benin City between 2nd and 3rd East Circular Road in the company of a girlfriend. His girlfriend was said to have betrayed him. His friends were arrested while he was shot in the leg, transferred to a military hospital. Several days after he was shot in the leg, one of his legs was amputated.<ref>Film of the execution broadcast by BBS TV Benin Channel 55</ref> The country's military leader, Ibrahim Babangida, demanded a speedy trial. Anini was convicted of most of his charges and was executed on March 29, 1987, in Benin city.<ref name="ncjrs" />
==References== {{reflist}} *{{cite journal |last=Marenin |first= Otwin|date=June 1987 |title= The Anini Saga: Armed Robbery and the Reproduction of Ideology in Nigeria |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=259–281 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X00000380 |jstor=161014|s2cid= 154815124}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anini, Lawrence}} Category:1960s births Category:1987 deaths Category:Benin City Category:People executed for murder Category:Bank robbers Category:Nigerian gangsters Category:Nigerian people convicted of murder Category:People convicted of murder by Nigeria Category:20th-century executions by Nigeria Category:Executed Nigerian people Category:People from Edo State Category:Executed gangsters Category:1986 murders in Nigeria Category:People executed by Nigeria by firing squad Category:20th-century murderers