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Tag: robber

  • Suspected robber stripped, beaten to stupor in Lagos

    Suspected robber stripped, beaten to stupor in Lagos

    A suspected robber, Dare Animashaun, was last Saturday stripped naked and beaten to a stupor by an irate mob after a failed operation.
    Animashaun, who claimed to be 19 years old is a member of a two-man gang that specialises in robbing innocent residents at dawn in the Agbelekale area of Abule Egba, a Lagos suburb.

    The duo had robbed a number of passers-by on the Ekoro-Abule Road until about 5: 40 a.m when they robbed one Hope Osa of his handsets and undisclosed cash at gun point.
    Instead of giving up his valuables easily to the robbers, Hope summoned courage and gave the fleeing robbers a hot chase shouting ‘’;thief, thief’’ without any help from passers-by.

    As a decoy, the robbers too were said to have shouted ‘thief, thief to confuse bystanders as to who the real thief was.
    By the time they got to Omi Ata bus stop along the road, Animashaun’s partner who was holding the gang’s locally made pistol had bolted leaving him behind.

    Chased by the victim to Adeniyi Street, the suspect jumped into a building on the street while Hope raised the alarm that attracted residents, who combed the houses and smoked out Animashaun out of a toilet where he was hiding.
    The angry residents punched, kicked and slapped the suspect before tying him to a stake after stripping him naked.

    It took the intervention of some community leaders to save him from being lynched to death by irate youths in the area.
    Speaking with The Nation, at the scene, Hope said: ‘’I am a trader at Katangowa Market in Abule Egba. This morning left home home very early
    In order to get to the market on time but I ran into the two-man gang at Ekoro Junction. One of them flashed a torch at me and before I knew what was happening he brought out a gun while his partner asked me to bring out my money and phones. I told them that I had no money on me and this suspect (Animashaun) rough handled me and removed my phones and money from my pocket and they fled.

    ‘’ I did not know how I gathered the courage to pursue them as they fled on foot on the Agbelekale-Ekoro Road. As I ran after them I was shouting ‘’thief, thief’’ but passers-by did not come to my aid until one of the robbers bolted but I kept pursuing this one (Animashaun) and when he knew that I was unrelenting he jumped into a building on this street following which I raised the alarm that attracted residents.

    ‘’He was brought from a toilet where he was hiding by occupants of the building and some youth leaders in this area.’’
    The suspect pleaded for leniency at the stake where he was tied saying: ‘’My hands are bended and would serve no useful purpose for me again. Please untie me, I will cooperate with you. I have lost the phone we collected from our victim while I was trying to escape by jumping into a building.’’

    A cross section of residents said a gang of robbers had been terrorising the neighbourhoods lately.
    They recalled how one Sulaiman, a commercial motorcycle operator popularly called okada was robbed of his motorbike and killed by robbers who posed as passengers.
    A resident, Akinola Oluwafemi said: ‘’Not a few people have been robbed at dawn by these suspects. They would attack innocent residents at dawn especially workers who usually set out in the early hours.
    ‘’About one month ago, the same two-man gang robbery gang and killed an okada rider called Sulaiman by smashing his head with a big stone on Saubana Street,’’ he added.
    The suspect was later handed over to a team of policemen from Meiran Division at about 8 a.m. and taken to their station.

  • Police nab notorious robber, kidnapper in Aba

    Police patrol team attached to the Central Police Station (CPS), Aba Area Command, has reportedly arrested a member of a four-man notorious robbery gang operating in Aba, Ejiagba Michael.

    A kidnap suspect, Prince Agorom, was also nabbed by another team of police patrol team from the CPS.

    Michael in company of his gang members was alleged to have stolen N300, 000:00, one Gionee phone, among other valuables and has admitted to the crime.

    Sources told our reporter that Agorom, the leader of a four-man kidnap gang, was arrested after the police team led by the DPO of CPS responded to a distress call.

    The Nation learnt Anumba Ozoemelam of Ugorji Street, off Okigwe Road, Aba reported to the Aba Central Police Station how he was robbed by a man identified as Johnson, whom he (Ozoemelam) met on the social media.

    According to a source, “Ozoemelam said he met Johnson on the social media and a few days after chatting with him, Johnson invited him to a birthday party on August 10 at 24, Ibegbulam Street, near Omuma Road, Aba.

    “Johnson sent a keke to pick Ozoemelam up at a junction to his house and on arrival, he was forced to surrender his belongings. He was beaten up after which they called his elder brother demanding N5million before they would release him.

    “The hoodlums also took Ozoemelam to his house, ransacked his room and made away with N10, 000 which they found in his wardrobe. At midnight, Ozoemelam managed to escape from their den while they were sleeping.

    “When the matter was reported at Central Police Station, Aba, the DPO swung into action and arrested Agorom, the leader of the syndicate, two days later and he confessed to the crime.”

    The source said efforts were on to arrest other members of the gang.

  • Suspected robber electrocuted in Kogi

    Suspected robber electrocuted in Kogi

    Nemesis may have caught up with a suspected bandit who was electrocuted  in Lokoja, Kogi State on Friday.

    The suspect whose name could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report was electrocuted on around the AIG Zone 8 area of Lokoja.

    He reportedly met his death in an attempt to scale the wall of a targeted house, according to a resident of the area.

    While police authorities could not confirm the incident, another resident who pleaded that his name not be mentioned, said some residents were alerted of the youngster’s body stuck to an electrified fence.

    The source added that power was put off before the lifeless body was brought down.

  • Woman identifies suspected robber through hand tattoo

    A woman, allegedly robbed by two men at a factory in Ikorodu, last month, identified one of them by his hand tattoo two days after, an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, heard yesterday.

    Mrs. Bola Ifesanya, according to the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Ikeja, identified the suspect at a bank in Lagos.

    Ebenezer Ogoba, 20, and Funsho Rilwan, 28, were brought before Magistrate B. O. Osunsanmi on a three-count temporary charge of conspiracy, armed robbery and attempted murder under Sections 228(2), 295(2)(a)(b) and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

    The police said last month, its Area N Command in Ijede, Ikorodu, received a report of a robbery at a sachet water factory.

    It said Mrs. Ifesanya complained that on August 14, at the factory at Ayeni Sheriff Street, Igbe Oloja, Ikorodu, she was robbed and cut on the hand with a knife by two armed men.

    The police said she alleged that one of the suspects covered half of his face with a handkerchief, adding that the woman identified him among other suspects. Prosecuting Inspector Simeon Imhonwa told the court that the suspects, while armed with a knife, dagger and other offensive weapons, robbed Mrs Ifesanya of an Infinix phone and one Tecno 727 phone. valued at N84, 000 as well as N12, 000 cash, totalling N96, 000.

    Imhonwa said they also attempted to kill her.

    Imhonwa said he realised that the court had no jurisdiction to try anyone for the offences on the charge and applied for a remand order of Ogoba and Rilwan, pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

    His application was opposed by the second defendant’s counsel, Olawale Akindele, who prayed the court to release his client on bail.

    He said: “The second defendant has been locked up by the police for 15 days without trial, even after the first defendant informed the police that he had never seen the second defendant before. He was not an accomplice and didn’t aid him in any attack.”

    In a bench ruling, Magistrate Osunsanmi upheld the prosecutor’s application and remanded both suspects in prison for 30 days pending the DPP’s advice. She adjourned the case till November 15.

  • Robber arrested wearing victim’s trouser

    Robber arrested wearing victim’s trouser

    A 29-year-old armed robbery suspect, Femi Majekodunmi, who was caught in the trousers of the victim a few days after robbing him, has expressed surprise that someone else would identify the pair of trousers he bought from a second hand clothes market as his.

    In his statement to the police, he admitted that he was not arguing that the clothing item was not stolen because it could have been taken by another gang. He was sure, however, that he bought the trousers from the open market, whether it was stolen or not.

    Of the events leading to his arrest, Majekodunmi said: “The pair of trousers is my size and not the victim’s size. I bought the trousers from Super, a second hand clothes market, on July 5 this year. I was arrested at Egbeda, but the owner claimed that he was robbed at Banire area, near a church. The owner claimed that the robbers who attacked him collected his bag and phone on that fateful day. Even if you call me a robber, I bought these trousers. I am not saying that I cannot rob. I was not the one that robbed the man who claims to be the owner of the trousers.”

    Parading the suspect, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said that the Lagos Police Command is in synergy with other law enforcement agents across Immigration,  Customs and others to make Lagos crime-free, and that the new Inspector General of Police intelligence policing agenda enhances their efforts in policing the state. He added that the command’s quick response to distress calls helped foil armed robbery.

    The Second-in-Command, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Superintendent of Police (SP) Ahmadu Adamu, said: “The preamble is this: On the June 6, 2016 at about 4:30 a.m., one Any Jacobs Martins of No. 17, Olorun Adaba Street, Egbeda, Lagos, while he was coming from his house to Alimosho Bus Stop at Raji Oba Street, Egbeda, Lagos, two men with guns on Bajaj motorcycle double-crossed him and pointed a gun at him.

    “They ordered him to surrender all he had and robbed him of one Nokia 225 cellular phone valued at N15, 000, one Blackberry Z10 phone valued at N45, 500, one bag containing a pair of jeans trousers valued at N4, 500, one shirt valued at N3, 000, one Honor Huawei phone valued at N70, 000 and a wallet containing his office I.D. card, voter card, National I.D. card, some passport photographs and a cash sum of N10, 000. During the robbery, he was able to memorise the armed robbers’ features with the aid of the headlamps of oncoming vehicles, and, after the robbery, he reported the incident at the Gowon Estate Police Station on the fateful day.

    “On the 5th day of July, 2016, while the complainant was walking along Kareem Laka Street, Egbeda, he saw and identified the jeans trousers inside the bag that the armed robbers took off him on one of the armed robbers. He quickly ran to the Gowon Estate Police Station and reported, which led to the arrest of the suspect, Femi Majekodunmi, aged 29.

    “Also, on July 8, 2016 at about 5:00 a.m., one Ademola Omolola (a lady) of Flat Six, Block Three, 41 Road, Union Bank Quarters, Gowon Estate, Lagos while on her way to the office, along Ponle Bus Stop, Gowon Estate, Lagos, two armed men attacked her and robbed her of one Tecno phone valued at N4, 500 and a cash sum of N15, 000.

    During the robbery, passers-by came to her rescue. One Kingsley Asuquo was arrested and the stolen phone recovered. The suspect was transferred to SARS for discreet investigation.

  • ‘My casual visit to Indian hemp bunk turned me into a robber’

    A 34-year-old robbery suspect, Mojeed Ogooluwa, who was arrested with his accomplice, Taoheed Waheed, 30, by the  Inspector General of Police Intelligent Response Team (IGP-IRT) has confessed that an unplanned visit to an Indian hemp smoking joint brought him into contact with armed robbers who influenced him to join their gang a few days after losing his regular job.

    According to a source, the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT) received information on May 13, 2016 that a gang of armed robbers led by one Mojeed Ogooluwa, aka Terminator, of No. 22, Opeyemi Street, Mowe Ibafo, Ogun State, who specialises in car snatching within Ogun State and Lagos State with a hideout located in Ketu area of Lagos State, was preparing for operation.

    The source disclosed that gang members used to converge there to plan criminal activities. Acting on the information, a team of IRT operatives swung into action and arrested Ogooluwa and Waheed, while others escaped.

    The two, who were interrogated, confessed to have snatched a Toyota Camry saloon car with an unknown registration number and sold it to one Alhaji, who they claimed could not be traced. They also confessed to have snatched an ash-coloured Toyota Corolla Saloon car with registration number LSR 259 DG and a 2007 model Toyota Camry saloon car, with registration number KJA 997 DH.

    They owned up to snatching the two vehicles on the same day and time.

    With police operatives on their trail, the robbers encountered policemen attached to Ogun State SARS at the point where they attempted to sell one of the vehicles and one of them was killed. They were forced to abandon one of the vehicles at Ogere, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    I tricked robbers to survive – victim

    Of his ordeal with the robbers, the victim, Iyiola Olushola, said: “I am a civil servant, and I work with the Lagos State government. I stay around Ketu area of Lagos State. On the 8th of March, 2016, I was in my room with my kids, sleeping, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., when three persons burst into my room. I don’t know how they got in and one pointed a gun at me and started asking, ‘where is your money?’ He asked me twice, and I told him that my bag was downstairs. I knew I had no money in my bag, but I told them that my bag was downstairs. While we went down, some of them ransacked my room and picked my gold ear rings, laptop and cell phone.

    “Later on, they picked my car key and asked for my gate key, and I pointed it to them. They were about five, and they packed themselves into my car and they shot rapidly into the air as they were leaving. Later, they drove back into our compound and picked something again. Surprisingly, and luckily too, a police patrol team showed up and went after the robbers.

    When they returned, they told us that the robbers had gone and they took my car registration number and radio. In the morning of the next day, I went to Alapere Police Station and reported the case, and the police did not show much interest in helping us to investigate.

    I joined gang to raise my children’s school fees, says first suspect

    Further in his confession, the Ogooluwa, said: “I am 34-year-old. I am a resident of Ibafo, Ogun State. I am married with two children. I am from Oyo State. I am a bricklayer. I am a member of Eye Confraternity. I started riding Keke NAPEP in Ketu area of Lagos State in 2002. I usually made N7, 000 and saved N2, 000 daily. Four years ago, I became an executive of Keke Marwa Operators Association in Ikosi Isheri unit, Ketu. I was in the post of Financial Secretary. We were affiliated to the National Union of Road Transport workers. My job was to monitor the movement of Keke NAPEP around Ketu and make sure that there was free flow of traffic. I usually got N5, 000 weekly as food money and by the end of month I got N20, 000.

    “In January this year, I was suspended from work, and when it was time for me to pay my children’s school fees, I could not. I met one Agu and Mutiu at a smoking joint in Ketu area and they started talking about robbing cars. I then told them that I could drive. We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet by night time. We met at Ketu Bus Stop, and I saw five boys, who are Agu, Lekan Texas, Yahoo Foreign, Mutiu and I. I don’t know the name of the street in Ketu because it was Agu and Mutiu that took us to the house.

    “Three of our gang members had guns. The time was around 1:00 a.m. We invaded a house by scaling the fence, and we broke the door of the house. Two people entered the house to get the car key and I stood outside with two others. After a while, they brought the key of a Toyota Camry and we all drove out with it. On our way, we saw a Toyota Corolla on CMD Road and we robbed it.

    “From that point, we proceeded to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and we were heading to Ilorin Kwara State to sell the vehicles to our buyers. On our way, the police attacked us where we stopped to buy something to eat. The police shot at us and we all ran away, but the bullet hit one of us, Mutiu, on his abdomen, and we abandoned him and the vehicle and ran into the bush. The police followed us but they stopped when they couldn’t apprehend us.

    “After that operation, I quit. But before that operation, Lekan Texas called me and told me that he wanted me to help take the car to one Alhaji.”

    I was enticed with food, says second suspect

    The second suspect, Taoheed Waheed said: “I am 30-years-old. I live in Ibadan. I am an injector mechanic, and I came to look for work in December 2015. I used to have a shop by Ojo Expressway, but when the expressway was being expanded, my shop was demolished.

    “Then I decided to come to Ketu to look for work at Tipper Garage but I was told that there was no work and that they had their own engineer. I met them in Ketu and they used to give me food.”

    ‘Why we killed mother, daughter over N40, 000, motorcycle’

    Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

    The Deta State Police Command has arrested two teenagers over the gruesome murder of a mother and her daughter in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area.

    The victims were identified as Edith Sunday and Favour Sunday, as well as Praise Sunday.

    The duo also attempted to kill the victim’s son, stabbing him several times in the neck. One of the suspects, Solomon Ogibor (20) and Ola Babatunde (19), in confessing to the crime, said he had no intention of killing the woman but killed her because she identified him.

    Ogibor, an apprentice tailor based in Lagos, maintained that the deceased often insulted his dead mother, accusing her of being a ritualist. He said: “Yes, it is true we killed the woman and her daughter and then stabbed her son. We used the kitchen knife we saw in the woman’s kitchen to cut her throat and that of her daughter.

    “I was afraid and angered by the attitude of the woman. My friends and I decided to go to the woman at night, just to teach her a lesson by beating. But when we got there, the woman was stubborn. After beating her, as we were leaving, the devil took over our senses when we saw a kitchen knife in the house. We returned to her room and killed her and her daughter because she was calling my name.”

    Delta State Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Zanna, who spoke to reporters, said the suspects would soon be arraigned in court, adding that an accomplice of the duo is at large. CP Ibrahim said that the suspects robbed the deceased of N40, 000 and a motorcycle parked in her residence.

    Items recovered include one locally made cut-to-size gun, a cutlass and a knife.

    But 19-year-old Ola Babatunde, a computer technician, said his friend persuaded him to join the gang. He said that the gang paid N17, 000 for the gun used during the operation, adding that he was pushed by other gang members to kill the woman’s son.

    “I stabbed the boy,” he said. “I did not intend to stab the boy, but I was ordered to do it because they said the police would be on our trail since we had already robbed the woman. We are regretting the whole situation. Had I known, we would have let the woman be, but we are begging God to forgive us. We know what we did was very bad but the deed has been done. We regret these killings.”

  • I’m not an armed robber, I use machetes, says robbery suspect

    I’m not an armed robber, I use machetes, says robbery suspect

    A robbery suspect, 31-year-old Abdullahi Hassan, has admitted robbing his elder brother, Chitta Sarudou, a bureau de change operator based in Lagos. But he said the act does not qualify him to be called an armed robber because he used a machete in order not to attract sympathizers.

    Hassan was said to have attacked his brother who was going for the jumat on Friday last week, thinking that he was with the money he had wanted to collect from him. He was said to have gone straight to the victim and inflicted several cuts on him but his screaming attracted the attention of passers-by.

    Initially, the people thought they were merely fighting. But when they had disarmed Hassan and asked why he inflicted serious machete cuts on Chitta, they discovered that Hassan was actually trying to rob Chitta.

    In anger, they descended on Hassan with whatever objet they could lay their hands on before the police came to his rescue. Chitta was then rushed to the hospital while Hassan was detained by the police pending when he would be charged to court.

    Explaining why he operated with a machete, Hassan said: “I did not know that using a machete to rob is armed robbery. I wanted to use a weapon that would not sound like a gun to avoid attracting the attention of passersby who would like to help him to attack me. Again, a gun would not have been convenient as the environment was not the kind of place one would fire a gunshot and escape.”

    Hassan, an indigene of Kebbi State, added: “I am a shoe shiner and repairer. Chitta is my brother. He has a lot of money but refused to help me.

    “What are the police charging me for? Do they say I committed armed robbery? I only used a machete on him. I did not intend to kill him. I only wanted to demobilize him to enable me collect the money on him and disappear before he would regain consciousness. But he raised the alarm before he lost consciousness and the angry mob came and gave me the beating of my life.”

    He admitted that it was the second time he would rob with a machete.

  • Mob lynched suspected robber

    Some angry youths yesterday lynched a suspected armed robber, who fell off a motorcycle while fleeing from the police.

    The incident occurred around Abule-Ado on the Badagry Expressway around 2:30pm.

    The suspect was said to have entered Matrix Stores with two others and robbed the owner of his mobile phones.

    It was learnt that passersby contacted the Satellite Police Station and a patrol team was sent to the store.

    Upon sighting the police team, the gang, which came on a motorcycle, attempted to run but one of them was shot in the leg.

    The suspects, it was learnt, dropped all the stolen items, a double barrel gun and two unexpended cartridges, as they fled. The police recovered all the items. But the suspect fell off the motorcycle several metres from the crime scene and the youths set him ablaze.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said efforts were on to arrest the two other.

    Badmos said the police arrested another robbery suspect in Surulere, Lagos Mainland.

    According to her, the suspect, Abdullahi Hassan, 31, cut Isiaka Maigari with cutlass on the head while trying to rob him of his money.

    She said: “Operatives from Surulere received a distress call at about 6:30am that robbers were attacking people at Shitta Roundabout. A patrol team raced to the scene and discovered that the suspect macheted Maigari on his head in an attempt to rob him of his money.

    “The victim was taken to Randle General Hospital; the suspect and recovered exhibit were transferred for further investigation,” she said.

  • We use toy gun to scare motorists, says suspected robber

    A suspected armed robber arrested by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives yesterday described Lagos residents as timid and fearful.

    Saheed Olaoluwa, 19, who is currently being detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud (SARS) Headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos, said he has been having a field day in traffic robbery because people tremble at the sight of anything that looks like a gun.

    Olaoluwa was arrested with a locally made short gun around 10pm on Tuesday by a decoy RRS personnel who have been on his trail for about two weeks.

    It was gathered that some policemen were deployed undercover to man the Surulere-Costain-Alaka axis following incessant attacks on motorists by traffic robbers.

    Olaoluwa, whose gang was said to have terrorised the area with motorcycle, was caught while trying to dispossess a woman of her handbag and mobile phone.

    As he was about to rob the victim, the undercover policemen swooped on him, causing  him to jump into a moving commercial bus.

    The police chased the bus, caught him and found a gun on him following a search.

    Olaoluwa said his gang drove around its motorcycle when there was traffic, monitoring motorists whose bags and valuables could be seen.

    “We drive through when there is traffic and monitor our targets. We look out for bags, phones and jewellery and once we see anyone we think we will get something reasonable, we will go and turn and come back there.

    “Then, my second will double cross the person or vehicle, while I jump down from the motorcycle and point a gun on the victim; we have been very successful before because Lagosians are timid. They flee at the sight of anything even if it is toy gun. We have not been having issues and we have been making money.

  • Policeman, robber killed in Bayelsa gun battle

    An unidentified policeman attached to the Department of Operations of the Bayelsa State Police Command has been shot dead by suspected robbers at Agudama, Yenagoa Local Government Area.

    Also, a member of the gang and a resident of Agudama, Victor Abule, died in the robbery.

    It was learnt that the incident happened at 11 pm on Saturday when a five-man robbery gang stormed the home of Evelyn Patrick at Agudama.

    The bandits were said to have shot dead Abule, who was Patrick’s neighbour, for allegedly spying on them.

    The deceased police officer was said to have confronted the robbers when they were escaping with their loot.

    This reportedly led to an exchange of gunfire between the hoodlums and the policeman.

    While the policeman shot dead one of the suspected robbers, he had a bullet wound that later caused his death at an undisclosed hospital.

    It was gathered that the bodies of the victims had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Police spokesman Asinim Butswat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the robbery incident and the three casualties.

    Butswat said: “On January 1, at 2200 hour (10 pm), a five-man robbery gang, robbed Evelyn Patrick at Agudama in Yenagoa and shot dead Victor Abule, 23.

    “Consequently, as they were escaping, a police officer confronted the armed men and shot dead one of them. The officer sustained gunshots injuries. He was rushed to the hospital where he eventually died.”

    The spokesman said the command had begun a manhunt for the fleeing suspects while investigation had begun into the incident.

    Also, a 27-year-old man in Yenagoa, Nwani Nnamdi, has died in a boat mishap.

    Nnamdi reportedly died after the canoe conveying him and another person capsized at the Down Yenagoa Creek.

    The passenger died before he could get help.

    The condition of another passenger travelling alongside Nnmadi could not be verified last night.

    The canoe was said to have sunk after it was hit by the waves from a passenger speedboat which drove past as it was crossing to another side of the creek.

    Butswat, who confirmed the incident, said the deceased, whose body had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Yenagoa, hailed from Ebonyi State and was 27.