Category: City Beats

It was my brother, Oche, who is our gang’s leader who invited me to Lagos to take up an employment, unknown to me that the job he had in mind was armed robbery.”

This was the confession of 20-year-old Morgan Udama, a member of the armed robbery gang arrested by operatives attached to Okota Isolo Police Station in Lagos, yesterday.

Udama, who hails from Oju in Benue State, said further: “I finished Senior Secondary School 3 (SSS3) in 2010 at Otupo, after which I was riding commercial motorcycle (Okada) before my brother, Oche, phoned me to come to Lagos, pladging that he would find me a better work that would fetch me enough saving for my university education. He also told me he was living in a three-bedroom flat, unknown to me that the one-room apartment he inhabited with his elder brother belonged to the latter.

“When I arrived last Monday, he asked me to follow him to take up an employment. When we got there, he snatched a woman’s car with pistol. I was surprised. When I asked him if robbery was the work he found for me, he said “yes,” assuring that very soon, I would be counting millions of naira. The mistake I made was that I still entered the snatched car. I should have left them because I was standing at a very good distance. But I feared that people at the scene might later lynch me if I did not follow them.”

His accomplices are: Suleiman Abdullahi, 23, from Bida, Niger State; Samson Oyebanji, 23, from Oro in Kwara State and John Oche, 26, from Idoma, Benue State.

A source said the four suspects snatched a Honda car belonging to one woman at Gbagada General Hospital Junction, Gbagada, Lagos, on Saturday at about 10am and drove the car to an estate in Okota Isolo area with only one outlet.

When the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Okota Isolo Police Station, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Adamu Ibrahim got the tip-off the gang was in his territory, he led his patrol team on its trail.

On sighting the operatives, the robbers sped off towards the Ire-Akari Estate, parked the car and took to their heels. However, they were arrested at different locations in and outside the estate.

Suleiman, who corroborated Morgan, said Oche is the owner of the pistol used in the operation, adding: “We did not shoot the woman; we just collected her Honda car.”

Samson, who said he is a technician, said: “I sat inside the car. We trekked to the junction and snatched the car. When we got to Barracks Junction, policemen tried to stop us, but we refused to stop.”

Oche, who said he is a commercial bus driver plying Oshodi-Ajah route, confessed to pointing the gun at their victim. “My role was to drive the snatched car out of the robbery scene. My brother (Morgan) is a big liar. I did not invite him to Lagos. He committed a serious offence in Otrupo and ran to Lagos,” he said.

He added: “Samson’s master in Bariga, who is called ‘Campus,’ introduced me to him that I should follow them and do the job (armed robbery).

•Student who needs N2m to live begs doctors

Unless the ongoing nationwide strike by doctors is stopped forthwith, relations of ailing final-year student of Agricultural Economics at the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Owerri, Imo State, Chisom Duruokpo, may have her corpse to carry.

The 21-year-old undergraduate, who is grappling with what is known in medical parlance as “abdominal inflammation,” has, therefore, urged the aggrieved doctors to “have mercy” on her by calling off the strike.

Looking frail and tired, she told The Nation yesterday that her predicament started late last year after successfully treating appendicitis through surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba.

A few months later, her stomach began to protrude, even as she felt an unusual sensation within her.

Though doctors have assured that the protrusion of her belly could be corrected through surgery, the Orlu, Imo State-born patient is relying on assistance from kind-hearted Nigerians.

She had before the strike, gone to LUTH for diagnosis, but its result was being awaited when the doctors began the industrial action.

Upon another visit to the hospital, she was advised to visit a private hospital that could handle her case, following which members of her family traversed many private hospitals but could not afford the exorbitant bills.

Her Abdominal Ultrasound Report made available to The Nation and signed by a Consultant Radiologist, Dr. Igwilo J.U, revealed a large central complex mass in her stomach. However, her liver, kidneys and gall bladder are in good condition.

Duruokpo’s expressed her fear, saying: “The pain is severe; it deprives me of sleep at night. The only examination left for me to become a graduate is near. I can’t concentrate on reading my books. My legs are also swollen and hardly can I lift my feet. I beg the governor of my state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and President Goodluck Jonathan to help me out because the situation is becoming unbearable.”

Her father, Mr. Ebere Paul Duruokpo, said the family had been to several private hospitals in search of lasting solution to his child’s ailment, but is hampered by financial limitations.

He said about N2 million is being needed to save the life of his first of two children. Saying that the doctors’ strike had worsened the family’s sorrow, he said the financial requirement wouldn’t have been huge if clinical services were available at public hospitals.

Amid tears, Paul said: “I used to trade in tailoring materials but for now, I operate a commercial tricycle (Keke Marwa) for survival. There is no way we can raise such money. This is why we are begging Nigerians to assist us so that my daughter can live and successfully finish her education which requires only one semester to complete.”

The family, he said, could be reached on 08161184471 or 08055811404, adding that financial assistance could be sent through Fidelity Bank account number: 6016918387, under the account name, Duruokpo Ebere Paul.