The Nation Newspaper

Tag: robbery

  • Robbery suspect killed in Ondo

    The police in Ondo State have killed a robbery suspect in Oba-Ile Estate, Akure, the state capital.

    Police spokesman Wole Ogodo said: “The robbers invaded a woman’s house at 3:30 am at Oke-Ala in Oba-Ile Estate.

    “The three-man gang tied up the guard and pulled down the windows of the house.

    “Fortunately, the woman called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Oba-Ile, who mobilised the officers. The officers arrived at the scene and there was an exchange of gunfire.

    “Unfortunately for the robbers, one of them was killed and the others escaped with injuries.

    “I want to implore the public that they should endeavour to avail us with the information that we need.

    “We have given out our phone numbers to the public. We are so happy that the victim had the DPO’s phone numbers and that is why the relationship between the community and the police is very important.”

  • Police arrest three herdsmen for ‘robbery’

    •Three robbery suspects arrested in Ogun 

    Three Fulani herdsmen have been arrested for alleged robbery in Sabo, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Haruna Ibrahim, Usman Burani and Haruna Usman were arrested in Sabo after they allegedly robbed residents of Atoba Estate in Sabo.

    The police alleged that the suspects were behind the attacks on commuters on Ayetoro Road in Yewa North and Igboora area.

    It was gathered that the residents of the estate had placed the herdsmen under surveillance. When they were sighted around the neighbourhood, the residents alerted the police.

    Police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi said community leaders in Atoba Estate contacted the Divisional Police Officer, Gbenga Megbope, at the Ilupeju-Sabo Police Division, who led a team of anti-robbery operatives to arrest the suspects.

    Adejobi said the herdsmen later led the police to their hideout in Igbo Olodumare forest on Igboora Road, where two others were apprehended.

    Items recovered from them included cartridges, cutlasses, charms and dummy guns, among others.

    Also, three robbery suspects were arrested in a joint security operation between policemen and soldiers (OP MESA) attached to the 35 Artillery Brigade, Abeokuta.

    Amuche Chukwuemeka(22), a graduate of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State; Blessing Edottie(26) from Bayelsa State and Santos Peter(25) from Delta State  allegedly snatched a Toyota Highlander at Festac Town, Lagos on February 4.

    Adejobi, in a statement, said the joint operations team seeing the suspicious movement of the suspects stopped their vehicle and upon interrogation, they were found to be fleeing.

    He said: “The suspects kidnapped the owner of the vehicle and dropped him on the road, having compelled him to deactivate the vehicle’s security device.

    “The vehicle was later demobilised and it stopped on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, prompting the suspects to hire the services of a technician to start the engine. They continued their escape movement, until they were intercepted and arrested.

    “The Acting Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, has instructed that the case should be transferred to the Lagos State Command, where the robbery took place.”

  • Two inmates rearrested for alleged robbery

    Two inmates of Ado-Ekiti prisons, who escaped during an attack on the facility on November 30, have been arrested by the police for alleged robbery.

    Commissioner of Police Taiwo Lakanu broke the news yesterday when he paraded the suspects at the state command headquarters.

    Adegboye Sunday attempted to rob Akingbinsola Feyi, a resident of Ori Apata area of Ado-Ekiti on December 5, last year, at 10.25 pm.

    The runaway prisoner led three other suspects, armed with cutlasses, to the scene of the incident where they attacked people preparing for a wedding.

    Ajimoko Kayode was arrested after leading a gang of four to a robbery at Olokemeji in Ado-Ekiti on January 20.

    Lakanu said 40 robbery suspects were in police custody, decrying the congestion of the cells where they were being kept.

    “We have 40 robbery suspects with us but they have not been charged to court because of the judiciary workers’ strike.

    “Our cells are congested and you know those arrested for capital offences cannot be released.

    “Some of those arrested are among those who escaped from prison, so we urge the public to volunteer information to assist us,” Lakanu said.

  • Alleged car snatching robbery: Eight suspected held

    Alleged car snatching robbery: Eight suspected held

    The Abia State police command has paraded two young men suspected to have snatched a Toyota Sequioa SUV car from its owner.

    The command also alleged that the suspects pasted the campaign poster of Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, member representing Bende Federal constituency of the state on the stolen vehicle.

    Parading the suspects in Umuahia, the state Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim concluded that they may have used the poster as a camouflage to escape arrest.

    Ibrahim said that the two men whose names were given as Uchenna Ibero, 24, and Ifeanyi Agbai, 27, were arrested by the police at Amaiyi Obilohia in Isuikwuato council area after snatching a campaign bus from a politician.

    The Abia police chief said that the suspects had earlier snatched a Mitsubushi campaign bus with registration number APP 376 CV, belonging to Chief Karibe Pascal Ojigwe, a former international footballer and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance for Abia House of Assembly.

    He said that the suspects snatched the bus at gunpoint from Ojigwe, adding,”My men went after them and traced them to Isuikwuato, where Agbai was arrested and during a search in his house we recovered one AK47 rifle with serial number 05934.

    One AK47 magazine containing three rounds of live ammunition, a locally made revolver pistol, one APGA T-shirt and one black polo with the inscription, ‘Gallant MOPOL, including the snatched bus.

    A few days later the suspects led the police to De-Jug Hotel located at Nkpa near Uzuakoli in search of the fleeing members of the gang and the hoodlums numbering about five on sighting the police opened fire on them”.

    Ibrahim said that at the end of the gun battle, one suspect identified as Ifeanyi Agwu Sunday of Eluama Alayi was arrested with bullet wounds and the Toyota SUV with registration number SMK 766 DE with a poster on it recovered.

    The Abia police boss said that his men also recovered one Space Wagon with the number NCH 405 AE, one Toyota Picnic SUV with the number KPA 177 LG and a Lexus Jeep with the number PH 30 AM.

    He said that the vehicles were recovered and one Ndubueze Onuegbu was arrested in connection with the three vehicles which were parked in a compound belonging to one Chibueze Onuegbu at Ubani Ibeku in Umuahia North area.

    The police said they also paraded six other suspected armed robbers arrested at different locations in the state, and assured the residents that criminals would be chased out of the state.

    The state Commissioner of Police said that the command has put in place a lot of security measures which led to the arrest of over 200 suspects before, during and after the Christmas period, with many of them being prosecuted.

    Ibrahim said that his men while on patrol along Aba-Owerri Expressway, arrested one Chinaza Ofoegbu from Isuikwuato with a machete at a notorious black spot at Aro-Ngwa near Aba

    The police chief said the suspects was nabbed “while blocking the highway with stones alongside his gang members,” adding that “others fled into the bush, while Chinaza was arrested”.

    He said that another armed robbery suspect a notorious one, who has been on the police watch list for some time with the name Chimere Eze alias ‘Nwa Barrister’ was arrested.

    He added that Nwa Barrister had been involved in many armed robbery cases in the state but that he had been evading police arrest for over three years.

    The suspect was arrested with a locally made pistol which was concealed in a brown bag at Asaga village, Arochukwu where he was engaged in a serious fight with his gang members, it was said.

    Ibrahim said that his men on raid at Asaeme village Uratta, Aba, arrested Onyekachi Uchendu of 11D Faulks road Aba in a criminal hideout with one unregistered Skygo motorcycle suspected to have been stolen, adding that the case is under investigation.

    He said that another armed robbery suspect Uchenna Ibeawuchi of Umulolo Olokoro was also arrested for being in possession of a suspected stolen motorcycle.

    “On interrogation, he confessed to the allegation and disclosed the receivers of the motorcycles, which led to the  recovery of six motorcycles,” Ibrahim said.

    The police CP said that his men arrested Enyinnaya Umegbulam for attacking Chibuike Ojiabo and Azubike Paul both of Ihie Ndume in Umuahia, saying that the suspect inflicted injuries on two of them with stones, sticks, and bottles and robbed them of their phones and cash.

    Ibrahim said that one of the victims, Ojiabo who was seriously injured eventually died in the hospital while the suspect Umegbulam ran away, ”However my men later tracked him after many attempts and he has been arrested”.

    He said that the police at Bende Division received a distress call from a concern citizen from Ozuitem and when they got there with the help of vigilante arrested one Okorie Dick and that a locally made pistol was found on him with an unregistered motorcycle, “While efforts are being made to arrest his gang member, Uwalaka Nwokorie of Ozuitem who is at large”.

    The Abia CP said that the last person to be paraded was one Ezekiel Ogbaa who was arrested while trying to steal an MTN transformer, adding that the suspect conspired with five others now at large, but that his men recovered a Citroen Jumper bus with the number WER 36 EM used by the suspects.

  • Police parade six robbery suspects

    The Abia State Police Command has paraded six suspected armed robbers with a pledge to curb crimes.

    Parading the suspects in Umuahia at the weekend, Police Commissioner Adamu Ibrahim said the command took security measures, which resulted in the arrest of over 200 suspects before, during and after the Yuletide.

    He said his men, while patrolling Aba-Owerri Expressway, arrested Chinaza Ofoegbu from Isuikwuato with a machete at a black-spot at Aro-Ngwa near Aba.

    Ibrahim said an armed robbery suspect, whose name had been on the police watch list, Chimere Eze, aka ‘Nwa Barrister’, had been arrested.

    He said the suspect evaded arrest for over three years and was arrested with a locally- made pistol hidden in a brown bag at Asaga village, Arochukwu where he fought his colleagues.

    The police commissioner said his men raided Asaeme village, Uratta, Aba and arrested Onyekachi Uchendu of 11D Faulks Road, Aba in a hideout with one unregistered Skygo motorcycle suspected to have been stolen.

    He said another armed robbery suspect, Uchenna Ibeawuchi, of Umulolo Olokoro was arrested for possession of a stolen motorcycle.

    “On interrogation, he confessed, which led to the recovery of six motorcycles.”

    Ibrahim said his men apprehended Enyinnaya Umegbulam for attacking Chibuike Ojiabo and Azubike Paul, both of Ihie Ndume in Umuahia.

    According to him, the suspect injured the two with stones, sticks and bottles and stole their phones and money.

    Ibrahim said Ojiabo, who was injured, died in hospital while Umegbulam ran away.

    “However, my men later arrested him.”

    He said the police at Bende Division received a distress call from a citizen at Ozuitem and when they got there, with the help of a vigilance group,  arrested Okorie Dick with a locally-made pistol.

    “Efforts are being made to arrest his colleague, Uwalaka Nwokorie, of Ozuitem.”

    Ibrahim said the last person paraded was Ezekiel Ogbaa, who was arrested while trying to steal an MTN transformer.

    He said the suspect conspired with five others at large, adding that his men recovered a Citroen Jumper bus registered as WER 36 EM, used by the suspects.

  • ‘Bad’ friends lured me into robbery, says suspect

    ‘Bad’ friends lured me into robbery, says suspect

    A robbery suspect has blamed those he called “bad friends” for luring him into the underworld.

    Suraju Ismaila, 21 said the friends he mingled with when he moved from Ajangbadi to Ajegunle suburbs, led him into the world of crime.

    He belonged to a five-man gang whose members include: Small (23); Pepper (27); Akiri (25), an Ojota-based driver, and Yusuf, a bus assistant (conductor) at Ketu.

    Ismaila, who said he started off as a furniture maker whose workshop was at Afro Media in Okokomaiko on Lagos/Badagry Expressway, stated: “I lived in Ajangbadi with my uncle, a proficient carpenter, who is married with a child. I became a bus conductor to a driver called Onyeka. I later got another bus that plied Agbara-Okoko-Mile 2 route with 22 passengers. My story changed when Onyeka told me that he wanted to relocate to Ajegunle and asked if I was interested in following him and I accepted. It was there I saw people engaged in all sorts of businesses to make a living. To them, stealing was fun.

    “There was a day I had no money on me and I called Small who asked me to meet him and his friends at a place called Alafia via Orile at about 7pm. When I got there, I was asked to sit down by the roadside pending when they would join me. They later came back with phones and laptops. They gave me N2,000 and asked me to meet them the next day.”

    “When I met them the next day,” the suspect continued, “Pepper showed me a gun and asked me to follow them to go and work. I told them that I could not do such work, but they threatened to shoot me dead if I refused to follow them. They pointed the gun at me and I was forced to follow them.

    “We went, operated and came back with five phone sets and N30,000 cash. We used to operate with one motorcycle. I later travelled to Ibadan to see my mother. I left Ajangbadi Secondary School in 1999. My father died and I had nobody to sponsor my education further. While in Ibadan, my friend, Onyegbuchi called to inform me that the police had arrested Small. I spent extra three months in Ibadan to allow the storm to subside. I was arrested where I went to relax in Ajegunle and sent to Ajeromi Police Station.”

    Ismaila, who said he was later transferred to SARS, added: “I urinated in my trousers when I was asked for the whereabouts of other members of our gang who are still at large. I participated only in three operations. At the Mile 2 operation, we got N50,000 with phone sets. We were three on the motorcycle owned by Pepper with the gun. The second operation was at Orile. We got phone sets and laptops which we sold for N75,000. I was given N15,000 only.

    “I was arrested inside a public toilet at the Mile 2 garage where I went to bath. I also participated in stop-and-search armed robbery operations on major roads and streets in Lagos. Our major receiver is Poopo, who lives in Ajegunle; he is still at large. My role in every operation is to search victims and collect their money, phone sets and other valuable things.

    “Our leader is Pepper. If I am released, I will seek for scholarship to complete my education. My life ambition is to become a gallant, intelligent and most feared police officer. I will make life horrible for armed robbers and other violent criminals.”

  • Suspected robbery kingpin, seven others held

    Suspected robbery kingpin, seven others held

    The Police paraded yesterday in Lagos eight persons for allegedly snatching N100 million cash from a man in Festac Town and robbing a Micro-finance Bank (MfB) in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    Their victim was said to be returning from Cotonou when he was robbed.

    The cross-border robbery suspects were paraded with a Toyota Sienna bus, two AK 47 rifles and 11 AK47 loaded magazines, which were recovered from them. The weapons were hidden in a specially constructed compartment underneath the bus.

    They are: John Nnamdi (42), their leader; Ifeanacho Igwe (35), Samuel Igbi (59); Anthony Umeh (38); Chineye David (29); Uchenna Eze (35); Victor Anamalechi (45) and Desmond Obinna (32). They were arrested following a tip off the police got last December 15.

    The suspects told reporters that they participated in no fewer than four operations.

    Nnamdi’s confession was said to have led to the arrest of others.

    The gang leader said he got N20million from the Alakija operation, adding that he bought an Infinity Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and other cars from his share. But Igwe said they got N28million each.

    He said: “I got N28million and from the money I bought a tipper truck and a car. I also completed my mother’s house at Onicha in Ebonyi State and sponsored my younger ones in school. I was arrested in Cotonou and jailed for 20 months because I went with a friend to buy guns to start my own gang.

    “I was released on December 31 and I came to Lagos only for the police to arrest me on January 5 for an operation we carried out in 2011. When I received my own N28million from the Alakija operation, I ran away from the gang, destroyed my SIM card and bought another one. I bought a bus which I started using for commercial purposes and my tipper was carrying sand. But the tipper had an accident and killed someone. It also fell into a river.”

    Nnamdi, who claimed that Shola (Chineye David) usually gave them information, said one Onyema contacted him for the Cotonou operation. He said: “We entered the bank at night from the back and we tied the security guards who were sleeping. Victor specialises in opening safes and so, he was the one who opened the bank. We saw a bag there and used it in packing the money. We released the security men after our operation.

    “When the money was shared, I got N7million. I bought a Sienna car for N1.5million in Lagos. We were not caught and we used this Sienna car for the operation. We don’t usually have problems at the borders because they don’t check our vehicle. We hide our guns under the Sienna.

    “What we got from the Alakija operation was over $200,000 and when we shared the money, I got N18m. That was in 2011. From the money, I bought an Infinity SUV. I am not the one who built the house as claimed by the police; the mansion in Igando is owned by my France-based brother.

    “I used part of my money to start importation of musical instruments which I sold at Alaba International Market. I was arrested when Onyema called me to bring his international passport which he left in the Sienna. I did not know he had been arrested.

    “I have gone for about four operations in Nigeria and Benin Republic; I have not gone to any other country. We have never killed or shot anyone because we usually go at night and don’t shoot. I have never used charm, but I pray before going for operations.

    “As a Catholic, I go for confessions, but I have never told the priest that I am an armed robber. I am from Obinwa in Abia State. I am married with a child and my wife is currently pregnant. She does not know I am an armed robber. I was arrested at Ijebu because I had a problem with someone over a vehicle. I regret my actions and I want an opportunity to change.”

    Police Commissioner Kayode Aderanti said the suspects’ arrest followed a tip-off about thier activities in Iba, Festac and Igando.

    He said the officer in charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP) , with two SARS decoy teams, stormed the suspects’ hide-out at Victory Estate in Iba on the LASU-Igando Road.

    “The operational Toyota Sienna space bus with registration number KFC and two AK47 rifles with serial numbers 3610142 and UR4341 hidden in a specially constructed compartment underneath the Sienna bus were recovered from Nnamdi.

    “The suspects confessed to several robberies including bank robberies in Port Novo, Benin Republic, a filling station and Bureau De Change in Mali;  attempted robbery of UBA Bank, Sagamu Road, Ikorodu; several robberies in Port Harcourt, Kano and the biggest of it all, N100million successful robbery in Alakija, Lagos, from which Nnamdi John built a mega mansion at Igando, while Ifeanacho Igwe built a duplex in his village in Onicha, Ebonyi State.”

  • ‘I graduated from pickpocket to robbery because I felt more secured as a robber’

    ‘I graduated from pickpocket to robbery because I felt more secured as a robber’

    A robbery suspect arrested by the Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, Ugochukwu Felix Nebuwe (28), has said that he started as a pickpocket before he graduated into armed robbery. The suspect said after only narrowly escaping being lynched together with his other members of his pickpocket gang, he decided to change from pickpocket to armed robbery.

    Nebuwe and three of his gang members who are now at large were said to have gone to a night club at Tin Can, Apapa area of Lagos and as they were returning home the following day, they saw a man trying to start his car. They rushed towards the man, forcibly took his car key and drove off.

    Unfortunately, by the time they got to Mile 2 area, information had gone to the police whose men mobilised and began to pursue them. They, therefore, abandoned the vehicle and fled. Unfortunately, Ugochukwu ran in a different direction and some boys in the area arrested him. Before handing him over to the police, they gave him the beating of his life.

    Nebuwe, who spoke with our reporter, said he hailed from Mgbidi village in Imo State and traded in refrigerators and electronics at the Alaba International Market.

    He added: “I used to stay with my parents at Igando (Lagos). My father retired as a chief driver at Futuro Construction Company. I stopped my secondary school education at Senior Secondary School 2 because I was too stubborn. I did not use to listen when they told me to stop fighting with people.

    “May be it is somebody that is doing this to me. I stopped schooling at SS 2 because of my stubbornness. I used to be too aggressive and when elders told me to stop fighting each time I had a little misunderstanding with people, I would not heed their advice.

    “It is a spiritual problem caused by somebody to undo my family because at times, after participating in armed robbery operation, I would begin to regret. Another thing that would show you that the hand of an enemy is in what is making me to behave like this is that if I want to sleep, I sleep in a tokunbo (fairly used) vehicle displayed for sale. The owner does not see me because before day break, I would go out, have my bath and go to the market to hustle.”

    Asked how he became a guest of the police, he said: “I started as a pickpocket. We used to be two or three doing it at clubs, bus stops, market places and even stadia. That was around 2004. My pickpocket counterparts were mostly Igbo and Edo boys. Some of them are dead while some are in prisons or police cells. Some of them died during police raids.

    “At Tin Can side of Ajegunle, I met a gang of ‘one chance’ robbers at a place we used to smoke. They were Obi, Stephen, Lukman and Okey. There is also one we call Ochari, a very short boy but very wicked. He was the one that usually pushed out victims from the moving vehicle.

    “They used to cheat me and would not give me raw cash when we were shairing our loot. They would tell me to wait until I mastered the work. They used to give me phones. Some of the members like Okey and Lukman, are dead now. As for the rest, I don’t know whether they are dead or in prison.

    “Every morning, they would call me to join them. We would call passengers like other commercial buses, but when we had got enough passengers, we would rob them and go home.

    “Our routes include Iyana-Iba, Mile 2, Tin Can and Mile 12. I used to sell the phones for N2,000 each, no matter the make or quality, because I didn’t want them to remain with me to avoid being tracked down through them. The moment I got the phones, I would remove the SIM cards and throw them on the main road.

    “I later left the gang when the police started tracking them down. Even some of them were arrested and charged to court. But after some months, I was down financially. The only option left for me to survive was to join a robbery gang.

    “I went back to the club because armed robbers liked to go there. There I met one Azubuike and another boy called Ijebu and IK. There was also a boy they called Afo. They told me that my suffering had ended and very soon I would get enough money to help myself.

    “On that fateful day, I did not know that they had already planned to rob on the way. As we left the club in the morning, I thought that they would drop me at Mile 2. We were all inside our operational Danfo bus. Immediately they saw a man washing his car in front of his house, which had no gate, they stopped, rushed towards the man and pointed a gun at him.

    ‘’The man shouted and area boys came out in great number and pursued us. They abandoned the car and ran away in the Danfo bus. I could not meet up with them hence they escaped and left me behind.

    “When the area boys saw me, they said I was one of them and started beating me. They would have left me when I tried to tell them that I was not one of them. But they got to the car they abandoned and discovered that one of the gang members had left his gun. They became annoyed and started pounding me. They later took me to Tolu Police Station.”

  • Man takes to robbery after being robbed

    Man takes to robbery after being robbed

    DAYS after he was attacked by robbers and stripped of the sum of N29,000 on his way to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a Beninoise also took to armed robbery. Thirty-year-old Bernard Bongi said he was travelling to Port Harcourt for his mother’s burial and payment of his fiacee’s younger brother’s school fees when he was accosted by robbers who took away the sum of N29,000 meant for the two purposes. He said that in his desperate search for money, he was left with no choice but to also take to robbery Bongi was, however, arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command after an order issued by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti to the officer in charge SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to track down members of a robbery gang that disarmed two policemen who were sleeping on duty and recover their Ak47 rifles. Identifying himself as the leader of the robbery gang, Bongi, whose nickname is Champion, said: “I was coming back from Port Harcourt in a night bus more than a month ago when some boys numbering about six ordered all the passengers to come down and lie on the ground. They collected my wristwatch, cell phone and N29,000 cash which I wanted to give my fiancée’s younger brother to go to school. That was what made me to become an armed robber because I was desperate to get money to bury my mother. “ The second suspect, Ifeanyi Okafor (35), a welder turned conductor, works at Sunrise, Apapa with a trailer. Asked why he was arrested by the police at Obalende, Lagos, he said: “I was arrested because I went to rob at Ogombo area of Ajah. We snatched handsets, ipad and gold jewellery worth thousands of naira. “We were five in number. We scaled the fence and entered the house through the window. We met the woman with her husband and two daughters while it was raining heavily. We arrested them and started asking them where their money was kept in the house but they said there was no money. Only the husband gave us N20,000, pleading that it was the only money in the house. We collected the money with ipad and jewellery. “We then asked them about the other house at the backyard and the wife said it was for domestic workers. We went to knock at the door of the domestic workers, not knowing that they were policemen on duty. When the door was opened, we found that they were sleeping and we grabbed them and collected their guns. “When we were leaving, we threw away the guns inside the gutter.” On why he became a robber, he said: “I joined a robbery gang because the driver I used to follow to work had an accident and I had no other driver to follow and no money to feed. “I am not married. I rented a house at Agbara for N170,000. It is a self-contained oneroom apartment. I got the money when I was following a trailer. I saved N2,000 daily for two years. We are four in the family; two men and two women. I am the first son. My parents are late.” Asked how many operations he had participated in, Bongi said: “I had gone to three robbery operations. The first one was in Victoria Island, at Whynot Club. We went there and sat down. We kept watch to see a guest that was drunk and threatened him with broken bottles. We collected all his money, phones, wristwatch and Mercedes SUV. The buyer of the SUV, Amadi, has not given us a dime till date. “The second operation was in the same club on Victoria Island. We went there after two weeks. This time, the victims were a man and a woman. The man had a Nissan Amada SUV and the lady a Toyota Camry. “The Camry stopped on the road and we abandoned it at Mile 2 but managed to carry the Amada Jeep to Cotonou where I sold it for N300,000. Four of us, namely Bernard, Emeka Small, Obinna and Chukwuma shared the money. “From the robbery, I was able to make N150,000 out of which I sent N100,000 to my people for the burial of my mother who was then in the mortuary in Benin Republic. “I am based in Cotonou but I normally come to Nigeria once in a while because I once worked here as a driver in an insurance company on Lagos Island. We never used gun. We only use cutters to cut burglaries in order to have access into the house. “The Ak47 rifles we collected from the police were not used by us. We put them in a sack we got from the house of the woman and threw it the gutter. When we got inside the compound, we used a cutter to cut the burglary. When we saw two policemen sleeping, Ifeanyi collected the gun and Small grabbed one of the policemen. Obi grabbed the other one and collected his gun. “One of the policemen scaled the fence and escaped. We started hearing gunshots from Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) vigilance group. We became confused and abandoned the new Toyota Highlander and Toyota Camry and ran away.”

  • Residents foil robbery attack on shop

    VIGILANT residents at the weekend foiled an attempt by a three-man robbery gang to make away with N400, 000 left overnight in a locked up tyre shop on Ibadan Road, Sabon Gari Kano.

    It was gathered that the gang stormed the shop at about 12.30 am last Friday and made straight for the shop where the money was kept overnight for deposit the following day.

    Despite the drizzling rainfall accompanied by mild intermittent thunder storms, it was learnt that the robbers remained undeterred.

    Eyewitnesses said one of the robbers, in his early 20s, armed with a sledge hammer, began to hit the door of the locked up shop, forcing it open in no time.

    The noise of the hammer woke residents who proceeded to see what was happening at the shop.

    They reportedly shouted until the robbers strolled away into the darkness.

    Residents said no security operatives appeared throughout the 30 minutes the operation lasted.

    All efforts to contact the Police Public Relations Officer in the Kano State Police Command, Magaji Majiya, for his reaction failed.