Three suspects have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing jewellery valued at over N23 million from a shop.
A police source said the incident occurred at a shop owned by a woman, simply identified as Mrs. Ekong, on Unity Road, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja in Lagos.
It said the prime suspect, Moses Obanda was arrested in his hideout at Agege, a day after, while the others were apprehended last week.
Obanda and the other suspects, Ogbulaja Ogaba and Izuchukwu Ezeobi, are currently being interrogated by operatives, following a report by the
Obanda, who was a security guard at the gold shop, was alleged to have carried out the operation alone as the two others he invited did not show up.
The police source also claimed that he had been charged with kidnapping and murder in the past after his gang killed a victim along the Ibadan-Sagamu Road after collected a ransom.
Explaining the tricks of the gang, the source said its members would secure employment as security guards in gold stores and supermarkets with the intention of robbing them.
The suspects usually use fake certificates, fake house addresses and unregistered SIM cards to seek employment, making it almost impossible to trace them after they had struck, said the source.
The source said after the shop was burgled, Obanda invited his accomplices to a hotel at Bolade in Oshodi, where they discussed how to share and sell the gold.
“Ogaba got 35 pieces of the gold, which he sold to one Jubril Garba for N80,000. Obanda took the remaining to Yaba and sold it at a giveaway price of N1m and another for N105,000,” it said.
After the deal, Obanda allegedly moved his family to Benue State to evade arrest, opened a hair-dressing saloon for his wife and started plank business.
Obanda, who lives at Olufunmilayo Close, Agbado Ijaiye, a Lagos suburb, said he secured employment into the store in October, 2013 with the fake certificates belonging to his younger brother.
“On December 22, last year, we bought chemicals with which we softened the wall. But I knew where they kept the keys of the stores which I used to open the place. That was the first time I would open the place. I decided to do the burglary alone because I had done a similar burglary before, which took me to the Alausa Police Division. I spent five days in detention,” he confessed.
Benue State-born Ogaba, who said Obanda invited him for the operation, explained: “One morning, he told me that he had carried it out alone, asking me to meet him at a location. There, he gave me 35 pieces to sell for him. I did and got N80,000, but I could not find him to deliver the money. He told me later on phone that he had gone to Benue and that I should enjoy the money. I used the money for my siblings’ examinations.”
Izuchukwu, who hails from Anambra State, who said he was not involved in the act, however, said: “I only provided him with a buyer called Ibrahim, but I did not get any money from whatever amount he sold it. I am innocent.”
