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Tag: robbery

  • Court adjourns armed robbery suspect’s trial to Sept. 25

    Court adjourns armed robbery suspect’s trial to Sept. 25

    An Ikeja magistrate court has adjourned the trial of an armed robbery suspect,  Adebola Oladipupo, 20, till September 25.

    The court, presided by Magistrate I.M. Dan Oni, adjourned trial to enable the suspect prepare for his defence.

    Magistrate Oni, who stood in for the substantive magistrate of the court, Oshodi Makanjuola, told the defendant to be prepared  to counter the charges preferred  against him by the police at the adjourned date.

    Oladipupo is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, illegal possession of fire arms and armed robbery.

    The police alleged that the defendant, on May 31, at T. Junction, Epe, Lagos, conspired to commit felony to wit, obtaining an AK47 rifle and thirty (30) rounds of live ammunition and thereby committing an offence.

    He said the offence is punishable  under Section 1(2)(a) of the armed robbery and firearms (special provision) Act, Cap. 398, Vol.XXII, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 as amended.

    Prior to the adjournment, Inspector Nurudeen Thomas alleged that the defendant conspired with others at large to obtain an AK47 rifle and 30 rounds of live ammunition from Bethuel Thomas.

    The defendant was also alleged to have stolen an Ak47 rifle being the property of Bethuel Thomas.

    The defendant pleaded not guilty when the three-count charges were read to him.

    The trial magistrate ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody till the next date of hearing.

    She adjourned the matter till September 25 for hearing.

  • I regret embracing robbery, says suspect

    I regret embracing robbery, says suspect

    A 22-year-old robbery and murder suspect has regretted taking to robbery instead of remaining a pick-pocket.

    The suspect, Akeem Adesina, is being interrogated by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Command, Ikeja.

    He was arrested after a member of his gang killed a man when they invaded his home.

    After the incident, they allegedly dispossessed  people going for early morning prayer.

    Adesina said: “My best friend, Abawon Kehinde, convinced me to join the gang. I regret going to rob with them. Had it been I knew that I would land here in SARS today, I would have continued with my pick-pocket job. At least, nobody would have arrested me.

    “Kehinde said that we should go to Jebba street in Oyingbo, Lagos. He told me that we were going for tigba bo operation. It means to kick and break down the door to gain entry. We had a gun and a machete. We were four that went for the operation, but that was the first time I would partake in robbery with a gun. My former job was pick-pocket. I used to cut open pockets of people sleeping to steal their money or phones.”

    Describing the mode of the gang’s operation, Adesina said: “Yes, we don’t have any target. We just move around and pick on any building at random. Kehinde is small and easily climbed up the balcony, to the first floor. He opened the curtain and said we would get money from that house.

    “One of us, Lucky, held the machete. He climbed and followed Kehinde. Sule, who held another gun, gave it to me and climbed up. They opened the window and attempted to open the gate. But the owner heard the sound of the gate and started shouting! Sule ordered him to stop. But the man started struggling with Sule in a bid to collect the gun.

    “Sule opened fire. The man fell down. Neighbours started shouting as they threw things at us. My friends rushed down from the balcony and we left the place,” he added.

    After the incident Adesina said: “We started robbing people going to early morning prayers of their money and phone sets. The time was about 4am. We saw a guy carrying a bag and another driving a car. Sule showed them his gun and we collected their phones and money. While we were collecting these items, we saw a police van with its headlights on.

    “We all started running; Sule ran and seemed to disappear. Lucky, Kehinde and I kept running. Kehinde was the person in the front, Lucky second, I was last. I heard “stop there or I’ll shoot.” It was the policemen. Kehinde and Lucky knew that area very well. They disappeared, but the police got me and took me to their station.”

    The suspect added: “The police were taking my statement when someone came into the station to report that some men came to their compound and shot their neighbour without collecting anything. They said the man had died in the hospital. The policemen asked me if it was my gang that did it; I denied it. I told them that we were doing ‘Stop and Search.’”

    After further interrogation, Adesina was transferred to SARS, where he promised to cooperate with the operatives to arrest his fleeing accomplices. But Adesina fingered innocent people.

    “I later told the truth that those people I mentioned were innocent. It was Sule that shot and killed that man,” Adesina said.

  • Lagos fisherman freed of alleged robbery

    Lagos High court in Ikeja has discharged and acquitted a 25-year-old boat operator and fisherman, Emmanuel Egbayelo, of armed robbery.

    He had been arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and alleged armed robbery. He was discharged last Thursday after spending four years in custody.

    The court presided by Justice Lateefat Okunnu held that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations preferred against him.

    “The prosecution has not done enough to prove the armed robbery incident and enough has not been done to prove the defendant’s guilt.  It is the view of the court that the allegations against the defendant are mere suspicions and suspicion has no place in law,” the judge ruled.

    Justice Okunnu further held that  the evidence given by the first prosecution witness was in English language and was not interpreted to the defendant hence, she disregarded it.

    The judge also dismissed the testimonies of the second and third prosecution witnesses on the grounds that they were not relevant directly to the crime for which the suspect was charged.

    “The evidence before the court does not prove the charge; there is no evidence of committing the act. Conspiracy cannot be proved by mere inference and  as such the charge fails. It is hereby dismissed and the defendant is hereby acquitted and discharged,”she stated.

    According to the police, the suspect was arrested on March 22, 2010 around 4am while operating a boat on the Kikiriki waterside.

    One of the prosecution witnesses,  Sergeant Festus Okoebor from the Marine Police Command, told the court that Egbayelo was arrested  while on patrol with two of his colleagues.

    According to him, the suspect was arrested in a boat about 3.30am with items, such as a revolver, a locally made double barrel gun, four laptops, seven handsets, two hair clippers, one hack saw and one wrist watch.

    Though by the time the police team sighted the boat, there were between 10 and 12 men in the boat, only Egbayelo was caught while the others escaped.

    The court heard that  Egbayelo was taken to the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja where his case was assigned to an officer,  Felix Igbasan and others to investigate.

    Igbasan, who was the first prosecution witness, told the court that after cautioning the suspesct, he obtained his statement and told him to sign because he could not write.

    He said during his investigations, the defendant led him to No. 31, Virgil Dike Street, Okota, Lagos, the scene of the crime, adding that one Inspector Frankling  Adeleke and Inspector Babakunle were with him.

    He further told the court that the victims of the robbery, one Chiamara Emmanuel and one Oguabi Raymond, showed the police how the robbers had broken into their house. He said the recovered items were returned to the victims.

    But Egbayelo told the court during trial that  he was only a boat operator and that it was one Odudu, who he had only met a couple of weeks before, that called him on phone around midnight on that day to help him carry some bags of rice  at Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) where he worked.

    He said on getting to the scene, he met Odudu and other persons not known to him and that he protested that he would not take them in his boat but Odudu persuaded him to take them with a promise  to give him N2,000 instead of the normal N1,500.

  • How we broke into Omisore’s house,raped his maid -Chadian robbery suspects

    How we broke into Omisore’s house,raped his maid -Chadian robbery suspects

    Four suspected members of a robbery gang made up of Chad nationals have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command after allegedly carrying out an attack on the Ikoyi, Lagos home of the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

    A police source told our correspondent that the suspects stormed the senator’s house at No. 11, Thomson Avenue, Ikoyi at about 2 am on June 18, 2014 and used an iron cutter to cut the electrified wire on top of the fence before they jumped into the compound, raping a housemaid and stealing valuable items.

    Once they had gained entry, they were said to have bound the two security men that guided the house with ropes and told a member of the gang named Musa to watch over the security guards. With one of the iron cutters in their possession, they cut the burglary proof on the door and gained entry into the house.

    They were also said to have pointed a gun at the housemaid and ordered her to undress. The hapless housemaid was said to have been reluctant in carrying out the invaders’ instruction, following which they became angry and beat her mercilessly, tearing her clothe and stripping her naked before assaulting her sexually.

    The poor housemaid was said to have been left unconscious by the robbers who also ransacked the rooms. The Senator, who is based in Abuja and currently campaigning for the governorship seat of Osun State, was said not to be at home at the time the robbers struck. A member of his domestic staff was said to have made a distress call to the Ikoyi Police Station whose men responded promptly and got to the house before the invaders could escape.

    Noticing the arrival of policemen, the robbers were said to have opened fire to scare them away and facilitate their escape, but the police responded with superior fire power, wounding one of the robbers and arresting him while the three others escaped.

    The police were said to have the suspect with bullet wound for treatment, after which he was transferred to SARS on June 19 for discreet investigation. The Commissioner of police, Mr. Umar Manko, was also said to have instructed the officer in charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to ensure that the fleeing suspects did not escape from the state or the country.

    Kyari and members of his special squad were said to have swung into action immediately, tracking down one of the suspects named Mohammed at Epe, a suburb of Lagos. Mohammed then led them to the hideout of another member of the gang named Ibrahim Abdulahi.

    Upon interrogation, Abdullahi was said to have disclosed that a member of the gang had escaped to Ibafo, an Ogun community not far away from Lagos. He was said to have led some SARS operatives to Ibafo but the suspected member of the gang opened fire on the policemen as they were approaching their hideout. The police again responded with superior fire power and cordoned off the whole area. Unknown to the police team, some other robbers lived in the house and had hid themselves in the ceiling.

    Upon entering the house, the policemen notice some strange noise in the ceiling and opened fire on the ceiling, wounding one of them in the process and arresting another without any bullet wound. The one without injury, Jidoh Sale, was immediately put in handcuffs while the one with injury was rushed to the hospital where he gave up the ghost.

    A search carried out on the uncompleted building was said to have led to the recovery of three big iron cutters, two red hand gloves, assorted charms, a chisel, a machete, a nail remover, two screw drivers, a torch, three different identity cards, voter ID cards, two Man O’ War ID cards belonging to Mohammed Yusuf and Ali Yawarb, a pen knife, a hammer and two locally made pistols.

    Confessing his involvement in the operations of the gang, one of the suspects, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said: “I am 29 years old. I am a foreigner from Amtima village in Chad. I came to Nigeria in 2010 in search of greener pastures. After three months, I secured a security job in a company in Anthony Village (Lagos). After few months, I was sacked and I went to stay with my brother at Ajah, a suburb of Lagos. I later returned to Chad to take a second wife with the little money I had saved from security work.

    “My problem started when I came back from Chad and there was no money for me to eat and feed my wives. I was thinking about how to survive when Mohammed Sale, who is still at large over his involvement in several robbery operations in Ajah and its environs, came to me with thousands of naira on him. I saw the money on him and begged him to help me, even if it was with a small amount as loan.

    “He promised to help me to get out of my financial problems. But he said he would not give me fish but will take me to the high sea to fish and eat as much fish as I wanted. I told him that a hungry would not understand riddles and that he should speak to me in plain language so that I would understand him. He then asked me to follow him.

    “He took me to Senator Omisore’s house, saying that he would put me at the gate. He said that two other people would join us later. He also told me that as soon as the work started, they would tie the two security men in the Senator’s house and that my role was to guard the security men and be the gang’s eyes while they would go inside the house to work.

    “At about 10 pm, we went to Obalende area and hid ourselves in the flower. There the two others came to join us. Around 2 am, we trekked to the Senator’s house at No.11, Thomson Avenue Ikoyi, armed with two guns, cutters and charms, among other items.

    “When we got to the house, we used a cutter to cut the electrified wire on the fence, climbed the wall and jumped inside the compound. Two dogs wanted to harass us but one of us, Mosale, pursued them. That made the two security men to wake up, as they wondered why the dogs were barking. The dogs continued to bark, showing that there were strangers in the compound, but they did not know what to do. It was while they were thinking of what they would do that Musa and Jidoh used guns to order the two security men to lie down and tied them with ropes. We then went inside the house and ransacked all the rooms.

    “We carried clothes, shoes and other things. We only spent 20 minutes. We collected a fine wrist watch and a phone. There were four of us: myself, Mosale, Idris and Mohammed Sale, but I did not join in raping the housemaid. I have two wives and three children. I cannot rape. I only wanted to get money to feed my family.

    “If I had got enough money to do business, I would not have been interested in armed robbery. Look at me, I cannot rape. If the housemaid recovers and we go for identification parade, you will see that I am telling you the truth. Not every armed robber is a beast. I don’t take hard drug. I am conscious and mentally alert every day. I don’t drink or smoke too much because it is very risky to lose control of your senses during a robbery operation. So, count me out from those who raped the housemaid.

    “Idris and Mohammed are still at large. One of our members died when we exchanged fire with SARS operatives at Ibafo.”

    Asked why Chadians enter Nigeria in droves, he said: “Our people come to Nigeria to do one job or the other. Nigeria is our best hope of greener pastures abroad. Some come with their cattle while some come to do security work in private homes and companies.

    “About 50 Chadians come to Nigeria every day to do one thing or the other, but half of us engage in armed robbery because Nigerians have many rich people and they keep big money in their cars and in their houses.

    “Whatever work we do in Nigeria gives us money with which we do reasonable things like building houses, farming and educating our children. There is a lot of money in Nigeria. Those who engage in armed robbery do so to get quick money and go back to Chad. Some do it because it is faster, but they do not kill their victims unless there is exchange of fire, because they do not carry gun for fun. They carry guns so that they can escape if they are challenged.

    “The primary aim of carrying gun is not to kill their victims but to protect themselves and to enable them escape from serious danger during and after operation. Nobody likes to kill his fellow human being just like that.

    “If I am released, I will relocate to Chad and do farming and other jobs to feed my family. I will not rob again. It was financial problems that made me to join them to rob. We are all from Chad.”

    The second suspect said: “My name is Mohammed Musa. I am 26 years old from Amdam village in Chad Republic.

    “When I came to Niegeria some years back, I secured a security job at Living Word Church, Ajah on a monthly salary of N15,000. I was on temporary appointment with the church. When I finished the job, I went to live with Ibrahim at Ajah..

    I was facing hard times in Ajah because I had no work. I had no money while Ibrahim was going out to rob and come back with a lot of money and handsets. I became jealous and begged him to allow me to follow him to his money spinning work.

    “I was still owing the Igbo man who helped me to cross to Nigeria and get security work in the church. When I was working in the church, he used to help me to get manual jobs that fetched me N1,500 every day, out of which he got a commission of N500. When I left the church, he did not know that I had relocated to Ajah, so he was still calculating the money I was supposed to be giving him every day.

    “Later, Ibrahim permitted me to follow him to do armed robbery and I celebrated it. Our gang leader is Mohammed Saleh, who is still at large.”

    Asked how he managed to get somebody to help him to cross from Chad to Nigeria without the necessary papers, he said: “If you have the papers, you can cross. But if you don’t have them, is it not somebody who will help you to cross? Money is involved at every step and I did not have the money.

    “Even when somebody helps you to cross, getting work and accommodation in Nigeria is not easy because you don’t know the country you are going to very well. You can be arrested for wandering.

    “I am not yet married. I had planned to get married after two or three robbery operations but luck was against me. I put my trust charms, not knowing that I would be confronted by SARS operatives. They rendered my charms useless.”

    The third suspect, Jidoh Sale, said: “I am 31 years old. I came with cattle from Chad. My wife is in Chad. I was arrested from one room in Ibafo. I have a room there in an uncompleted building. Area boys used to come there to collect money from every tenant. We do not know the landlord of the house till date.

    “I know that criminals live in the house. But for me to continue to live there, I have to mind my business. It is highly risky to report criminals to the police when you are living in the same place with them.

    “It was Zachariah who came into my room and told me that policemen were everywhere with powerful rifles and that their eyes could scare even a lion, so I decided to run. Unfortunately, I ran into one of the SARS operatives who had a rifle. He ordered me to stop or he would shoot me dead. I fell short of words and fell down in shock.

    “I shouted and pleaded with him not to kill me when he told me that I was playing tricks the way I fell down. He came closer to me and ordered another operative at my back to handcuff me and take me to their vehicle, which they parked near the road.

    “I know Ibrahim Abdullahi. We entered the ceiling together and jumped down together. We took different directions. I would have escaped if I had followed him.”

    Contact for comment, the Media Director, Omisore Campaign Organisation, Mr. Diran Odeyemi confirmed that the robbery took place in June. But he said it had not come to the knowledge of the governorship aspirant that the perpetrators of the act had been arrested.

    “You are the one that is just telling us about their arrest,” he told our correspondent on Thursday.

  • Alleged robbery: Seven bankers, six policemen held

    Four cashiers, three security guards and six policemen have been held in connection with Wednesday’s robbery at the Okokomaiko, Alaba, Lagos branch of the Fidelity Bank.

    The suspects were arrested following investigations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) led by Abba Kyarri, a Superintendent of Police (SP).

    The robbery occurred barely a month after a similar attack on the bank, in which a riot police officer was killed. The robbers made away with N24 million.

    Last Wednesday, robbers stormed the bank and blocked two bullion vans as they drove into its premises.

    The robbers were allegedly armed with AK47 rifles and magazines wrapped round their bodies.

    The bullion vans were escorted by seven policemen from the heavily armed Bar Beach Police Station on Victoria Island, with two spy policemen and others.

    The robbers overwhelmed the police escorts, killing two of the spy policemen.

    Eyewitnesses said one died on the spot; the other on the way to the hospital. A police corporal, who was also shot, is critically ill in hospital.

    The robbers broke open the first bullion, carting away all the money in it. They riddled the other van with bullets in their attempt to force it open.

    When they did not succeed, they disappeared with the loot from the first van.

    A police source said: “One of the spy policemen who died was a driver, while the second used to load money into bullion vans. Six policemen have been detained and four cashiers of Fidelity Bank.”

    Another source said: “The matter is now with SARS. It is believed that there is an insiders’ connection. I heard that investigation has started immediately. The Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko is suspecting a foul play, considering that the bank had only recently been robbed in the same manner. He asked why it was always Fidelity Bank.”

    Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide confirmed the incident, saying: “The incident did not occur at Fidelity Bank, but at the bank’s box office, where the bank officials used to box money before moving it out. Only one spy policeman was killed. The robbers would have been caught, but because it was in the market, our policemen did not want to shoot. The bullet could hit innocent people. The car attacked was the bank’s bullion van and it came to pick boxed money. The money taken away was about N24 million.”

  • Robbers kill two in Kaduna robbery

    •Destroy Sambo’s wife’s NGO vehicles 

    Two people were killed at the weekend when robbers blocked the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway near Doka village.

    An official car with an inscription, I- CARE Women and Children Initiative, belonging to the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) of Hajia Amina Sambo, wife of the Vice President, was among several vehicles destroyed.

    The NGO’s Kaduna State Coordinator, Abdulrahman Mikailu, who spoke from his bed at the St. Gerald Hospital in Kaduna, said his official vehicle was among the five vehicles that rammed into each other.

    He said: “Two bullets missed me when I tried to come out of my vehicle. I   pretended to be dead.

    “The robbers, who were in military uniform, thought I was dead, so they went to my car and ordered my colleague to surrender all our belongings.

    “They killed two passengers in a commercial bus and robbed several vehicles.”

    Police spokesman Aminu Lawan said the multiple accidents were caused by panicked drivers. He said there was no official report of casualties.

    “The police helped in taking some of the victims to the hospital,” he added

  • Six killed in Osun bank robbery 

    Six persons were killed on Thursday evening by a gang of armed robbers in an attack on   Wema Bank in Modakeke, the headquarters of the Ife East Area Office in Osun State.

    Investigation revealed that a cleaner of the bank located at the Iraye area of the town who was among those killed by the robbers was said to have been mistaken for a policeman because of the black dress he was wearing.

    The robbers numbering five were said to have escaped from the robbery scene before the policemen and soldiers in the Swift Action Squad (SAS), who responded to a distress from the bank, arrived.

    The robbers were also said to have killed five other passers-by with dynamite which they threw at them as they were being pursued.

    An eyewitness, who preferred not to be named, said the robbers exchanged gun fire with the police while they charted an escape route out of the town.

    According to him, the robbers abandoned their vehicle and escaped with the  gun wounds into the bush near  Modakeke High School.

    The Public Relations Officer for the Osun State Police Command, Mrs. Folashade Odoro, confirmed that six persons were killed by the robbers.

    Odoro, who disclosed that no arrest had been made as at the time of filing this report,  said the policemen were combing the bush in order to apprehend the hoodlums.

  • Pastor’s stolen bible lands robbery suspects in police net

    Pastor’s stolen bible lands robbery suspects in police net

    A bible found with a robbery suspect has led to the arrest of five others by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command. The holy book in question was said to have been found with 32-year-old Monday Patrick, leading to the arrest of five other suspected members of a robbery gang, namely Adeagbo Michael, Ismaila Kareem a.k.a. Asmuo, Odu John, Nwoke Promise and Ifeoluwa Coker.

    A police source told our correspondent that the owner of the bible, Pastor Adesoye Zaccheaus of Unity Estate, Igando, Lagos had reported to the police that as he was driving his car into his compound at about 8 pm on May 26, he was accosted by two armed men who forced him to move to the back seat before driving off to the road that leads to the Lagos State University.

    At a point on the road, they pushed him out of the vehicle and drove off to an unknown destination. Pastor Zaccheaus then went to Idimu police station to report the incident. SARS operatives reported the matter to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, who directed the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to take over the case and fish out the culprits.

    The complainant led SARS operatives to Oko Filling area of Igando where Monday Patrick and Michael Adeagbo were arrested. An instant search conducted at the building where they were arrested revealed two pairs of army uniform and a black bag containing the documents of the car that was snatched.

    The two suspects were taken to the Scorpion House headquarters of SARS at GRA, Ikeja, Lagos where they confessed that the robbery operation was carried out by Adeagbo and Ismaila Kareem a.k.a. Asmuo, and that the vehicle, a Toyota Camry, was with Kareem.

    Kareem was said to have been arrested at Iyana-Oworo area of Lagos. He corroborated the statements of the suspects and also named one John Odu as the receiver of the snatched car. Odu, who pretended that he was in Port Harcourt, was later caught at Ikotun area of Lagos while trying to receive another snatched vehicle from the same Asmuo, who was promptly arrested. Asmuo confessed that he snatched the vehicle but that it had been sold to a Port Harcourt-based customer named Promise Nwoke. Nwoke was later arrested and the vehicle was recovered.

    Asumuo also claimed that he sold one Toyota Camry to one Desmond Iwerem and one Ifeoluwa Coker in Ondo State while Desmond is still at large.

    Monday Patrick’s father was said to be the owner of the house the operatives searched and recovered a gun. The building is located on Emmanuel Street, a slum where some boys were found smoking Indian hemp. It was there the police discovered a bible bearing the pastor’s name.

    Narrating his role in the robbery operation, Monday Patrick said: “I don’t know my age. I only remember that I was born in 1982 in Ibilo village, Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. I trained as a fashion designer.

    “I knew Michael through my work. He came to my shop to meet me with a black bag. When he came, I was busy working and he just dropped the bag and left immediately. He did not come back until three days later.

    “I had become worried and wanted to know what was inside the bag. I thought it was a cloth he had brought for me to sew. Surprisingly, when I opened the bag, I found a gun, books and a big bible. I started looking for him.

    “I smoke Indian hemp, but I have not stolen a pin form anyone. I am happily married with a child. I smoke (Indian hemp) twice a day; once before I start work and once at the close of work.

    “I used to sew clothes for him and we are close friends. He gave me phones whenever he had no cash to pay. But that had happened only two times.

    “When I saw the pastor’s bible, I liked it because it is big. I took it from the bag. When his mother heard that SARS operatives were combing the area, she picked the gun and went to the backyard to hide it.”

    The second suspect, who was said to have gone to prison several times, Adeagbo Michael (29), a native of Ile-Ife, Osun State, said: “I live at No. 27 Emmanuel Street, Governors Road, Ikotun. I am an okada (commercial motor cycle) rider.

    “Somebody gave me a bike on hire purchase and robbers snatched it from me. The owner of the bike took me to the police, alleging that I was the thief. I was charged to court and later sent to the Kirikiri Maximum prison on remand.”

    Asked how he snatched the pastor’s bag, he said: “We were two: Desmond and I. The pastor was coming back from work on that Monday. We took positions and waited for the man to come down. As he came down to open the gate, we rushed towards him.

    “We overpowered him and carried him into the car. He had only N1,000 on him. I took the money. When we wanted to push him out of the car, I gave him N400 for transport. We took him inside the car to stop him from shouting.

    “I was the one who brought the gun. I brought it from my village. Nobody taught me how to rob. It was when they seized my motorcycle that I became jobless. I did not know the pastor before. I just said let us take a stroll and look for something to snatch. Asmuo did not give me a kobo after selling it.

    “As for the snatching of laptops, we operated four times. But the one of jewellery and handsets (phones) happened two times. It was Lucky and Kunle, who is now in prison, who did the work with me. Lucky was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police.

    “I smoke marijuana (Indian hemp) once every evening. It was in the prison that I learnt how to rob. In the prison, there is no teacher for robbery lessons. Every inmate narrates his experience and others learn from it.”

    The third suspect, Ismaila Kareem a.k.a. Asmuo (27), is married with a kid and hails from Okitipupa in Ondo State. But he resides at Okoafo area of Badagry.

    “He said: “I used to see Michael at Oshodi market area where we rode okada together.I was the one that drove. When we got there, Michael showed the man a gun and put him at the back seat. We dropped him off at Igando area.

    “We had used a pipe gun to snatch a Jeep at Festac side. I did it with Michael. I do smuggling at the Seme border with a Volvo car. Michael told me that he had gone to the village to bring a gun. I am an ex-convict.”

    On why he sold the car without giving Michael a dime, he said: “We decided to be working with the car, but I later decided to sell it. I don’t know his house. He normally takes me to the nearest junction to where he is living for me to wait for him.

    “When I sold the car, I called him and told him that I had not collected the money. I sold the car for N290,000 at the New Garage, Ifako, Gbagada. I used the money to pay the balance of my house rent.

    “I went to Kirikiri prison for using a bike to snatch a bag. I used to operate on Victoria Island, Lagos. I spent two years and three months awaiting trial. A court in Ikeja discharged and acquitted me for want of prosecution as the investigating police officer was absent in court.”

    The fourth suspect, Odu John (39), a native of Ahoda, Rivers State, says he is married with four children and formerly worked with a construction company, Dredging Atlantic, in Port Harcourt. He said his appointment was terminated in 2010 no money was coming into the company and the staff were redundant.

    He said: “I was arrested in connection with the pastor’s car. The car was snatched and brought to me by Asmuo to buy. I knew Asmuo through one Kehinde. I knew that the car was snatched. The pastor’s car was bought for N290,000. Another Toyota Camry was bought for N180,000 and I resold it for N280,000 while the one of N290,000 was resold for N400,000.

    “I live at No. 10, Dele Street, Ikotun. I relocated to Lagos in March this year. I met Kehinde in a restaurant in Ikotun this year and it was he that introduced me to the gang. He said they normally got cars to sell.

    “I graduated in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.”

    The fifth suspect, Nwoke Promise (36), says he sells juice and is married with four children.

    He said: “I live in my own house, which I built in Ikwere, Port Harcourt. I bought the car for my senior brother for N400,000. The pastor’s bible was inside a bag. John and I attended the same primary school. He told me that his friend who works in the Customs had a problem and wanted to sell his Camry car for N600,000, but I later paid N400,000.

    “I did not know his work after primary school. He called me on the phone at a restaurant at the University of Port Harcourt and told me that he worked with Charles Ugwu, the previous NDDC Chairman, and I believed him.”

    The sixth suspect, Ifeoluwa Coker (28), graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, who majored in Biology Education, said that Demond was his guardian in the church where they worship in Akure.

    He said: “I am a member of the Buccaneer fraternity. I was arrested in respect of a Toyota Camry. I worship with a new generation church.

    “I joined the Buccaneer in 200 Level. I was threatened to join them because I helped them to do their class assignments.

    “I went to Akure to receive the car.”

  • 19 robbery suspects arrested

    THE police in Cross River State have arrested 19 robbery suspects–11 men and eight women. Four vehicles were recovered from them.

    The suspects, who pose as commercial motorists, the police said, rob victims, who enter their vehicles.

    The activities, popularly referred to as “one chance”, are a menace that has long faced residents of Calabar.

    The vehicles seized were a Volkswagen Vento, a Volkswagen Golf, a Volkswagen Wagon and a Mazda 626 sports car with registration numbers FGG463ME (Anambra), NKE965AA (Ebonyi), FGG451ME (Anambra) and BR151AGL (Lagos).

    Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation, Ganiyu Salami, said they were arrested in two hotels in Calabar, following a tip-off.

    He said: “We got them through sustained intelligence monitoring.

    “We gathered that they were in town and we were able to get them in two hotels in Calabar.”

    He said bundles of papers resembling money were recovered at the hotels.

    The papers, he said, were used to replace the money they steal, so the victims believe they still have their money on them.

    He urged residents, especially bank customers, to be wary of the vehicles they enter.

    The police chief warned residents against entering vehicles without registration numbers.

    One of the suspects, Chidebere Onu(32) said he does not know anything about the robbery.

    He said even though he lives in Enugu, he drives a cab in Calabar.

    Another suspect, Ifeoma Okoye (22), also from Enugu, said she was a sex worker in the hotel.

     

     

  • Robbery survivor builds parsonage

    Robbery survivor builds parsonage

    Twice he faced men of the underworld, and twice he survived. So what better way to say thank you to God than building a parsonage and handing it over to Him. That was exactly what Mr Aham Uko did.

    On the day of the dedication, Uko gathered his family and friends and they rejoiced in the grace of God. He built a parsonage for his local church in Nkwoegwu in Ohuhu clan of Umuahia North council area of Abia state to thank God for saving his life in two armed robbery attacks some years ago.

    Uko said he had every reason to thank God because surviving two armed attacks is not common.

    “It was obvious that my end was near, but God who is the giver of life said no, that it is not my time to die yet,” he said.

    He said that maybe God wanted him to be alive to teach him a lesson since he had not been paying his tithe in the church for many years. After calculating the tithe he decided to pay it by building the parsonage, and also to thank God for His numerous mercies for him and his entire family.

    Uko gave a testimony of all his travails in the church during the dedication and handing over of the building.

    “Two things prompted me to do something for the Lord,” he said. “In 2007, as a Regional Director of UBA, two vehicles, Prado Jeep and Honda Accord, were given to me by my employers.  I used the cars only on Sundays as I had other cars. One day, I was returning from the airport and stopped to do some shopping

    at Psychiatric Road in Port Harcourt. It was about 7 pm.

    “After shopping and I was about to enter the Jeep, two people standing around there held me up with AK-47 rifles and ordered me into the back seat with the one holding the gun to my head while the other took over the steering.

    “The driver asked me in Igbo language if the car will stop on the road. I then responded in Igbo, telling him, “My brother, how can such a car stop, that it was loaded with fuel.

    “When the car veered off Psychiatric Road, the one at the back with me, holding the gun, collected all I had on me, including cell phones, wristwatch and cash.

    “After that, the driver asked me what else was in the car, and I told him that there was N300,000 in the pigeonhole. He asked me what again, I told him that office computer was in the boot as well as a car DVD I wanted to install in my car.

    “After about five minutes, the driver told the one with the gun to allow me to go. The one with the gun said no, that they have to finish me off and asked the driver why I must be allowed to go.

    “An argument ensued between them and I pleaded with them that I am an only son. The driver started quarrelling with the one sitting with me and after about five minutes, he asked my companion to allow me to go, telling him that I was a gentleman. The man with me had bloodshot eyes.

    “After the argument, I told the driver in Igbo language not to argue with him. He then stopped and parked and a Hiace bus that had been moving before us stopped also.

    After a while he moved and the bus in front later stopped with a man in caftan coming towards us. It dawned on me that the men were four. The man in caftan consulted with the driver in a low tone, while I was praying to God silently and after about two minutes, he said “allow him to go”.

    “The one with me did not find this order comfortable. He ordered me to pull of my shoes, my shirt, trousers and pants before allowing me to go naked. The first person and the second one I saw ran way on sighting me as I shouted that I was not mad, but a victim of armed robbery.

    “A short man, fair in complexion, clad with a wrapper and clutching a bible in one hand, did not run away when he sighted me. I told him that I was not mad, but a victim of robbery.

    “The man said the place is dangerous and offered me the wrapper to tie around my waist, stating that he was going for a night vigil and had only N50 with him. He offered me his slippers, but my feet could not entre it. So I gave it back to him and walked barefoot. He then took me to his house and found one large shirt and trouser which couldn’t button well, as well as slippers.

    “The man searched his house and could only find N200 and which was not enough to transport me home. He said he will take me to the road and put me in a taxi that will take me home.

    “Once we reached the main road, the first taxi he flagged down stopped and was told what happened, and he offered to take me home free of charge.

    “On reaching home, after severe searching, I could not find a small piece of paper on which the man who helped me wrote his name. The cloth he gave me was dry-cleaned and is still in my wardrobe till now.

    The next day, I went to the exact spot I met him and traced our movement back to see him and return his clothes, but I could not find such a man or anyone who knew him, even after describing him.

    I made several attempts, going back and forth to locate the one room the man was living with rubber buckets at the front of the house. But each time I tried, I could not trace the house.

    The next thing that happened was when I was returning from somewhere when I met a checkpoint mounted by armed robbers and was lucky to escape because I had the glass of my car all locked.

    When I sought to reverse on sighting them, one of the robbers came from a nearby bush and pointed a gun on me, but God gave me the courage to drive away with reverse gear, not minding deep gutters that bounded the road and the robber did not shoot.

    I decided to complete the parsonage by re-designing and completing it after consulting with my wife. This started in 2012 with the belief

    that God would provide the resources after I challenged Him and He did.

    God reminded me that I had not been paying my tithes and after calculating it, it was enormous”.