The Nation Newspaper

Tag: robbers

  • Robbers cart away N17million

    Robbers cart away N17million

    •Kill two policemen

    Like a Hollywood movie, armed robbers last weekend waylaid a Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicle on the busy Ishaya Bakut road.

    Within seconds, they killed two policemen and carted away over N17 million.

    The cash, it was gathered, was for payment of National Youth Service Corps members whose passing out ceremony was to take place on the following day.

    The slain policemen attached to the Benue State Civil Service Secretariat were Timothy Anyangaor and Faned Mtaghenyi.

    A motorcycle mechanic, Akuha Gbande, who witnessed the robbery close to his workshop, said two young men alighted from a Toyota Corolla close to the junction between Makurdi to Otukpo Road and Ishaya Bakut Road.

    They shot sporadically with their automatic rifles at the oncoming pick-up vehicle heading towards B Division police station on Ishaya Bakut Road in Makurdi, he added.

    He recalled the bullets deflated the tyre of the Hilux and bought it to a halt.

    Two police escorts who returned fire, the witness said, were killed while the vehicle was riddled with bullets.

    Gbande stated the robbers removed the big Ghana-must-go bag containing the money believed to have been withdrawn from an old generation bank.

    Investigations revealed the incident was the second involving staff of the Ministry of Finance.

    Robbers snatched over N20million from a cashier and driver of the ministry some weeks ago.

    The police were said to have wondered such amount were withdrawn without security escorts.

    The driver and cashier were arrested and charged to court.

    The Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Daniel Ezeala, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

    He said the vehicle used by the robbers had been found with a government plate number.

    Ezeala disclosed that investigation has commenced into the incident, assuring that the suspects would soon be fished out.

  • Robbers cart away N17million

    Robbers cart away N17million

    Like a Hollywood movie, armed robbers last weekend waylaid a Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicle on the busy Ishaya Bakut road.

    Within seconds, they killed two policemen and carted away over N17 million.

    The cash, it was gathered, was for payment of National Youth Service Corps members whose passing out ceremony was to take place on the following day.

    The slain policemen attached to the Benue State Civil Service Secretariat were Timothy Anyangaor and Faned Mtaghenyi.

    A motorcycle mechanic, Akuha Gbande, who witnessed the robbery close to his workshop, said two young men alighted from a Toyota Corolla close to the junction between Makurdi to Otukpo Road and Ishaya Bakut Road.

    They shot sporadically with their automatic rifles at the oncoming pick-up vehicle heading towards B Division police station on Ishaya Bakut Road in Makurdi, he added.

    He recalled the bullets deflated the tyre of the Hilux and bought it to a halt.

    Two police escorts who returned fire, the witness said, were killed while the vehicle was riddled with bullets.

    Gbande stated the robbers removed the big Ghana-must-go bag containing the money believed to have been withdrawn from an old generation bank.

    Investigations revealed the incident was the second involving staff of the Ministry of Finance.

    Robbers snatched over N20million from a cashier and driver of the ministry some weeks ago.

    The police were said to have wondered such amount were withdrawn without security escorts.

    The driver and cashier were arrested and charged to court.

    The Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Daniel Ezeala, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

    He said the vehicle used by the robbers had been found with a government plate number.

    Ezeala disclosed that investigation has commenced into the incident, assuring that the suspects would soon be fished out.

  • Police arrest fake Journalist for raping fufu seller

    …as robbers shot in Ogun


    The Ogun State Police Command has arrested fake journalist, Tosin Awotedo, for raping a girl of 10 years old in Igbeba Ijebu Ode. 

    The minor who hawks Fufu was said to have been raped severally by the  47 years old Awotedo, in his Igbeba apartment  for more than four times before he was finally arrested by the police.

    It was learnt that the victim’s mother, who was alerted by her neighbours of the recurrent misdeeds of the suspect, reported it to the police 

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect was interrogated by the Divisional Police Officer in Igbeba, Mr Halilu Muahawiya, and he  claimed to be a journalist but was discovered to be a fake. 

    According to him, the victim has been taken to the hospital for medical examination while  a case of rape  has been established against the suspect  for prosecution. 

    Adejobi also revealed that  the anti crime patrol attached to the Onipanu Division in Otta had on Wednesday engaged some robbery suspects in a gun battle which led to the death of one of the robbers while others escaped with bullet wounds in Ilasa road, Iyesi area in Otta. 

    Adejobi said:”the victim of the robbery said the robbers trailed him from a bank where he withdrew a sum of 100,000(one hundred thousand naira only) and robbed him at gun point in his residence in Iyesi Otta. 

    “The police detectives who responded swiftly to a distress call from his neighbours, gave the robbers a hot chase before the gun battle ensued between the police and the robbers. 

    “One browning pistol with its ammunition and a sum of 65,000(sixty five thousand naira) were recovered from the dead robber. 

    “The command wishes to assure the general public in Ogun State of adequate protection of lives and property; and urges the good people of the state to always contact the police whenever the needs arise as the Commissioner of police ogun state CP Ikemefuna Okoye appreciates those neighbours of the victim who put a distress call across to the police.”

  • Four robbers shot dead by police in Ibadan

    Four robbers shot dead by police in Ibadan

    •As victim recount ordeal

    When Mr Abiodun Adeniran a lecturer at The Polytechnic, Ibadan was returning home from work that fateful day, all he had in mind was to have a peaceful rest after a hard day’s work, but this was not to be.

    As he entered his compound at Akobo area of the city, little did he know that danger was lurking. He walked straight into the hands of a group of armed robbers who after disposing him and his wife of their precious wedding rings and other valuables also went away with his car..

    The academia, while narrating his ordeals in the hands of three armed robbers said it was his first experience meeting men of the underworld face to face.

    According to him, he had returned from work into the living room not knowing that the armed robbers had been keeping vigil inside the uncompleted building behind his residence.

    Adeniran said his mother in-law had gone out to pick some clothes hung to dry outside when she discovered that they had fallen to the other side of the fence.

    “As she was trying to look beyond the fence, suddenly three hefty men jumped the fence from their hideout and ordered her to lead them into the main building.

    “When they entered, they demanded for everything including money, handsets and other valuables in the house among which were our wedding rings.

    “They also demanded for the key of my car which was parked in the premises and they went away with it,” the lecturer recalled.

    Before the robbers left, he said his wife and himself were locked up in the bathroom while they gave the key to his mother in-law.

    Immediately they left, he said “people came to sympathise with us, and the incident was reported at the police station”.

    The robbery victim said the police swung into action immediately, sending radio messages to all police formations and this led to the killing of the three robbers.

    While drumming support for the police, the victim who commended them for a job well done, urged government to give Nigeria Police the necessary support to do more.

    Parading the dead suspects at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, recently State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Indabawa, disclosed to journalists that four armed robbers, including the three that robbed the Adenirans were killed during a gun battle with the policemen in Ibadan.

    He said the robbers were killed on Friday, January 17, 2014. The fourth robber was killed along the Lagos/Ibadan road, Seko area near Dominion University while attempting to evade a police checkpoint, while three others ran away.

    Indabawa also disclosed that a Honda Accord car with registration number TD 206 AAA, belonging to one Engineer Adeniran Ademola was reported stolen by robbers who also went away with some belongings of their victim.

    The police boss stated that the police manhunt for the robbers was helped by support from a popular hunter, Alhaji Kwara Azare, who joined the police in the search for the car which was trailed to a point on Oyo road.

    “When the three occupants (suspected robbers) discovered that they were being trailed, they diverted to Alaaka road where they opened fire on the police patrol team pursuing them. In the process, the three suspected robbers were fatally wounded while the vehicle was recovered from them.” The CP noted

    Indabawa disclosed that when police conducted search on the Honda Accord car, items such as the vehicle document and other documents found in the car indicated that the vehicle belonged to Engineer Ademola.

    Other items recovered from the killed robbers included, an A-K 47 rifle, one double barrel locally made pistol, one single barrel locally made cut-to-size shot-gun, 101 rounds of live ammunition, nine rounds of live cartridges, eight assorted mobile phones, one laptop and the sum of N17,170.00.

    The Commissioner of Police said the robber who was killed at Seko area was trying to evade a police checkpoint. He revealed that the occupants of the car, a Toyota Camry, with registration number ST 57 AAA refused to stop at the check point prompting the policemen to pursue them. But the occupants of the car, in order to evade arrest opened fire on the policemen chasing them and an exchange of gun fire ensued. In thye process, one of the occupants of the car was killed while the three others escaped into the bush.

    Indabawa explained that the vehicle was immediately recovered while on the spot search led to the recovery of two shot guns, 12 rounds of live cartridges, one knife, four assorted handsets and one cutlass.

    The CP disclosed that some of the particulars recovered from the car revealed the owner as Omowunmi Abubakar of Yinusa Balogun bust stop, Okota palace, Lagos.

  • Police to exhume corpse of four robbery suspects

    Edo State Police Command has agreed to exhume the corpses of four robbery suspects killed on November 24, 2013 at the Ahor axis of the Benin bye-pass.

    This followed a court order issued by a Grade 1 Chief Magistrate Court presided over Friday Igbinosa.

    Among the robbery suspects is one Samuel Imaikop whose family claimed was a farmer and married two wives.

    The police in a letter signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, E. J Ibine said the exhumation would take place today at the 3rd cemetery where the suspects were buried.

    Ibine in the letter said the police was ready to comply with the court order and advised the family to make their medical experts available for the conduct of autopsy.

    The court had threatened to jail the State Commissioner of Police, Foluso Adebanjo for court contempt on why the court orders issued on December 16 were not obeyed.

    Magistrate Igbinosa also granted an order permitting medical experts other than Police Pathologist(s) to carry out the examination or be part of same.

  • A tale of two robbers

    These are certainly not the best of times for many Nigerians, who usually troop out en masse to vote for the people of their choice to represent them, with the expectation of delivery of dividends of democracy to their door steps, but the reverse is the case, as the dividends of democracy which many people of the country earnestly look forward to have not been forthcoming.

    Democracy has in no way changed for positive the living conditions of our people. If anything, people’s conditions are getting more deplorable with the rising cost of living. The only categories of people who have truly benefited from democracy are politicians, especially the political office holders.

    They are feeding fat on the nation, while the masses they are supposed to cater for continue to wallow in pains, hunger, and abject poverty.

    Nigeria today is under siege. The nation, particularly her masses, is whimpering under the whimsical grip of two types of robbers.

    The first category of robbers are the politicians and the political office holders. Ostensibly, because of the insensitivity, the recklessness and the corrupt practices of the political rulers, the new breed politicians would have learnt a lot of lessons.

    But not these new-breed politicians; many of them are in office today not to serve anybody but themselves; they are there to line up their pockets with public funds. The story is the same from the local government to the federal government level without putting the masses into consideration.

    The cavalier arrogance with which these people steal and share public funds is so nauseating that one desperately wishes for a change in government or even calls for a revolution to happen in this country, but not through a military coup-de-tat. All because people of this country have tensed up and want revamping, revitalisation and changes.

    In spite of the federal government’s declared war against corruption, this vice thrives most at the highest corridor of power. Imagine

    Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation, approving such exorbitant amount to buy just bullet-proof cars for herself, while millions of Nigerians are suffering and wallowing in abject poverty.

    The other category of robbers holding the nation hostage are the men of the underworld. Since the beginning of the democratic dispensation in this country, the wave of criminal activities, especially armed robbery, has been on the rise and after fourteen years of uninterrupted democratic rule, it is crystal clear that the government security apparatus can’t contain the excesses of these men of the night.

    The most astonishing part of it is that they no longer operate in the night alone. Their confidence seems to have soared so much that they can snatch a bullion van from security men in broad day light. Without addressing the gap between the rich and the poor, there will be no decrease in crime rate in this country.

    Ademola Orunbo

    Oke-Posun, Epe,

    Lagos State.

  • Robbers kill Police boss in Ondo

    Armed robbers have reportedly killed a senior police officer, identified as Iheme Wilfred, Assistant Supretendent of Police (ASP)  at  Ijare town in Ifedore Local Government area of Ondo state.

    A source said the deceased who was the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO)  in Ijare Police Division and other officers were on their official duty when the bandits attacked them.

    It was learnt  that the robbers who carried out operation at Ikere Ekiti state last Thursday evening  were trying to escape through Ondo state.

    On meeting the securitymen on the Ijare-Ikere road, they opened fire on the leader of the team.

    Immediately,the senior police officers was killed, other members of the team on patrol  were said to have fled into the bush, giving the men of the underworld opportunity to pack their arms.

    The robbers were said to have earlier attacked a commercial bank in Ikere Ekiti and carted away unspecified amount of money.

    Similary, Police sources said the deceased got information that the robbers who operated in Ekiti state were heading towards Ijare in Ondo state which is a border town of the two states.

    He consequently ordered his men to lay ambush for them but unfortunately got fired as the robbers first sighted him.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Wole Ogodo, who confirmed the incident said men of the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have commenced a search for the bandits and expressed confidence that very soon, they would be apprehended.

    He said” It happened on Thursday night the officer and his men were on duty when the robbers struck and killed him, we have commenced investigation on it and I am sure the robbers would soon be arrested.

    Ogodo said the remains of the dead Senior police Officer had been deposited in a mortuary at the State Hospital, Akure .

  • ‘How robbers scared off a professor who visited Nigeria recently’

    ‘How robbers scared off a professor who visited Nigeria recently’

    HOW did your sojourn to Botswana begin?

    I was in Nigeria. When I finished my Ph.D in 1981, at that time we were very patriotic; even when you had opportunity to work outside after you finish your Ph.D, the urge was to go back to Nigeria. So, I studied in one of the top universities in the UK and God so good, just before I finished, the then Rector of the Ibadan Polytechnic came on a recruitment drive to the UK and he expressed the desire that I should join the polytechnic and I agreed and I was there for five years and then became the Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering. I later joined the University of Ibadan’s Department of Chemical Engineering. I left Nigeria when a friend of ours informed me that Botswana needed engineers and academics. That was how my wife, the children and I moved to Botswana over 21 years ago and we have been here since then. I was at the University of Botswana. I just left the University of Botswana.

    What encouraged you to leave Nigeria?

    At the time I left Nigeria, the naira was sliding down seriously. Before I left Nigeria for the UK for studies, it was almost one naira to one dollar. You could spend naira in London. To see the naira slide down was shocking. I think another thing that added to it was the insecurity at that time and also the provision of utility. When I was at the polytechnic, we were living on the third floor and of course, there was no water. We used to go close to Asejire to wash clothes and to Oba Dam in UI to fetch water and carry it up the stairs. It didn’t need to continue and having come out, one has seen that life can be better. In Botswana, the system works. The country has zero tolerance for corruption. Everything works for good. I have always returned home, even though sometimes distressful because of water, road and electricity. Each time I come to Ibadan, not only Ibadan, Nigeria generally, I almost cry. But at the end of the day, home is still home.

    Have you ever at any point considered returning home?

    I was on the way to Nigeria before I took the job at the BIUST. I got a job as the Vice-Chancellor of a state university. I was going there to assist. Sometimes I taught students from here using skype. I went like three to four times. I was there in March. I was hoping I would take up the appointment, but at a point I told them: ‘It is not that your system doesn’t work, you don’t have a system.’ There is a big difference between Nigeria and Botswana. God has blessed Nigeria with a large human resource but many of them are outside. In my college at the University of Botswana, there were many Nigerians there.

    What do you think Nigeria should do to discourage brain drain?

    I was talking to Prof. Victor Ibearusi from Florida and he was telling me his experience in his hotel in Abuja and I am sure that must have devastated him. Six armed robbers stormed his hotel room at 3am and they were knocking asking him to open. He didn’t open and they forced their way in, with AK 47 and they were asking him why he had no woman. He said he was just praying and after some minutes, one of their leaders said: ‘I can hear some voices’ and that was how they got out. He said by the time they got to the corridor, he started hearing gunshots. Two of the men were shot dead. The other four were arrested. Security is a major issue. But apart from security, there should be the provision of simple amenities that will make life comfortable. The number one issue is electricity.

  • Tears as robbers storm community

    Tears as robbers storm community

    The residents had smiled to bed after a fulfilling day. But, just when some of them who were still “alive” should celebrate the birth of a new day, the devil struck, leaving in its wake, tears and bloodshed.

    It was on Sunday. Idowu Crescent, Community Road and Ariya Street – all in Adalemo, Sango area of Ogun State – were the theatre of what many a victim described as an unforgettable ordeal.

    Armed robbers – for the second time in a week – swooped on the neighbourhood without let. As they shot their ways into homes, beating and maiming residents, they looted valuables, especially money. Their prey could only groan in pitiable helplessness.

    The operation, it was gathered, began around 12am and lasted hours. Several houses, it was said, fell victim to the invasion by the unwelcomed visitors who reportedly shot sporadically into the air to scare off security agents.

    “They blew whistles like typical night guards while the operation lasted. So, many of us mistook them for local security guards,” said a resident.

    A victim a landlady on Idowu Crescent, Mrs Osho a.k.a Mummy Solo, said she was thoroughly beaten when she refused to handed over her bag containing her money and gold to them.

    “As they came in, they demanded money and I said I had none. They asked for gold; I said I had none. One of them pointed gun at my daughter, Bose, when she too said she didn’t have money and that she was an apprentice. Then, I said my last prayers. Another one ordered them to fire us if we refused to cooperate. They vowed not to leave our house if we didn’t surrender money or gold to them. To avoid wasting our lives, I handed over all I had to them,” she recalled, sobbing.

    Another victim, who simply gave his name as Mrs Linus, said she was “mercilessly pounded” and hit with an iron in her head as she didn’t have anything to offer them.

    “As they came into our house, about four men entered my room and ordered me to bring out my money. I replied that I had no kobo. And after thoroughly searching the room and found no penny, except my faulty mobile phone, one of them, in annoyance, smashed the phone on the floor. Another one hit my head with the iron rod of my standing fan. He said he would have fired me but for my cooperation,” still in shock, Mrs Linus said.

    It was gathered also that another victim, Mr Akeem, who lost his wife while delivering a baby about three months ago, was angrily shot in the leg when nothing was found on him. He was said to have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

    It was the same tale of woes on the other affected streets. While many of them said security must be seen as a responsibility that should not be left only for night guards, most others urged government to strengthen security of lives and property, especially in the suburbs.

  • Robbers spoil Sallah for community

    For residents of Sabainah Taiwo and its environs in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, this year’s Sallah was celebrated on a sour note. Reason: Armed robbers had, last Friday, swooped on the community, dispossessing them of the money they had saved to buy rams.

    The bandits, numbering over 25, The Nation learnt, stormed about six streets in the neighbourhood, about 1:am that fateful day and had a free reign till 5am.

    “It was a day of terror. They broke doors with bullets and carted away various sums of money and phone sets. They asked me for the money I had saved to buy ram. In order not to lose my life, I surrendered the N120,000 I had at gun-point. I’m yet to recover from the shock,” a victim, who simply gave his name as Mukaila, told The Nation yesterday.

    “The shock of the incident killed an ailing woman the following day. A man sustained machete cuts on his head. He had suffered the same fate two previous times armed robbers laid siege to the area,” said another victim, who described his experience as hellish.

    Many a resident, it was learnt, had fled the area owing to incessant robbery attacks coupled with the “unbearable” activities of hoodlums and cultists.

    “In fact, what we have been undergoing here is horrible. Day and night, we live in fear of attacks by armed robbers and thugs who have become demi-gods. They make trouble and go scot-free. Security agencies dare not touch them; we are living in real hell,” a resident, who craved anonymity, said.