Some Lagos residents have described as traumatic their experience in armed robbers’ hands.
They said it was shocking to discover that their guard had a hand in the robbery.
Reliving their experience during a visit to The Nation, they said the robbers invaded their 10, Akanro Street, Ilasamaja, Lagos home, and raided all the four flats.
Speaking on behalf of others, Ibikunle Ojikutu and Habeeb Yahya said the robbers were aided by their guard.
Ojikutu, a Facility Manager at Meditrack Limited, said he was watching a movie with his wife around 1:30am when the couple saw the guard behind their window.
He said they thought he was on normal patrol, until they heard a heavy sound around 2am .
Ojikutu said: “I didn’t even know it was my door. My wife woke me and told me someone is at the door. So, I carefully listened to the noise. So, when we got into the living room, I could see the robbers already opening the window and brandishing cutlasses. I went back into the room. They came to the room’s window and said ‘We can see you. It’s better you open that door yourself or we break into the room.’ So, I just thought to myself that they could harm my wife and kids if they forced themselves into the house. Immediately, I opened the door, they pushed me to the wall and kept shouting ‘Where is your gold!’ They were opening the wardrobe as they were talking, throwing out everything they saw. They were just ransacking all the bags they saw in the house, asking ‘Where are your phones?’
“Before I could bring out my phones, someone had already taken it. They took a pair of shoes. They took three phones in the wardrobe.
“My one-year-old daughter woke up and started screaming. We pleaded with them as they were showing their weapons to ensure we didn’t raise any alarm. So we kept quiet. After they were done, they locked us in the room. We heard them banging on another door. We knew they were already breaking into other people’s apartments.”
Ojikutu said he saw the guard about an hour later near the generator house, adding: “the rule of the house is that we don’t put on the generator after midnight. He had turned on the generator while there was electricity probably to ensure our neighbours do not hear anyone trying to call for help. He also turned off the security lights. It was after the robbers left that he turned off the generator and switched on the security lights.
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“Later, he came out and I called him to help us to open the door. It was when we came out that we discovered they had robbed other neighbours. It was our first experience. I heard people talking about it, but my first-time experience was crazy. It is horrific because, for almost a week, my wife was saying let us just go look for somewhere else to stay. So, till date, when I hear the slightest of sound, I’m up. I don’t sleep peacefully. That’s how bad it is. The trauma remains with us and never leaves,” he added.
Yahya, a businessman said, he had called the guard before the incident to notify him of the light issue in his apartment.
Yahya said: “He (the guard) said he wasn’t in the compound; that he went to dispose of dirt. I told him to ensure he puts on the light when he comes back. But, he never returned until I slept off.”
He said at about 2am, about six armed men woke him up, adding: “they were holding guns, cutlasses and axe. They broke into my apartment but not through my door. I have no idea how they entered.”
According to him, they carted away cash, laptop, five phones and Jewelry.
He said: “They told us not to make noise and lie down. The surprising thing was that they knew much about my apartment because they knew where all the switches were. They could easily turn on the light. My bedroom door is bad, so they didn’t lock me inside the bedroom; they took me to the other room and locked me up there.”
He said he saw the robbers chasing the guard about five minutes after they left him.
“The armed robbers and the guard ran through the back and they were saying ‘if you run I will shoot you’, but they didn’t injure the guard. They brought him to my apartment and locked him up with me.
“They were supposed to see the guard first. They didn’t see him until after they robbed me. After they locked him up, I started hearing them beating someone’s door,” he said.
Yahya said what they stole was worth N500,000.
“It was horrible because to see guns after waking up from sleep is not pleasant. They were pointing guns at me and my wife. It was a terrible experience,” he said.