A dismissed soldier arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command for robbery has said that he ventured into armed robbery to enable him get enough money to satisfy his urge for hard drug, particularly cocaine, which he said is expensive.
Twenty-eight year-old Ugo Williams, a native of Ekwunano, Enugu State;a member of his gang, Obinna Aku (29), from Onuma village, Olu Local Government Area, Imo State; and a receiver of their loot, were arrested by the police for snatching a car belonging to one Adeniran Ademola.The car, a Honda,according to police forces,was snatched at Mushin, Lagos on January 16, 2015.
The suspects ,it was gathered, had sighted Ademola in his car close to the Olosan Bus Stop, Mushin, whereupon Ugo suggested that they should snatch the car.
Ugo, a dismissed soldier, then allegedly approached thr victim, pointed a gun at him and asked why he was wearing an army uniform. As a shocked Ademola made to explain that he was not wearing an army uniform,Ugo opened the front door of the car and ordered the man to drive to the nearest army barrack to formally formally report him to the military authorities. The innocent man pleaded with the gang for a peaceful settlement of the matter.
In the process, Ugo asked him to bribe them with money so that they would reconsider their decision to take him to their base for investigation. He told them that he did not have enough cash on him and should allow him go to the nearest branch of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to withdraw money to give to them.
At the bank, his ATM card showed that he had only N12,000 in his account. He told the suspects that he could not withdraw a dime from the said sum because doing so could amount to closing his account. He advised the robbers to give him more time to sort himself out and get them a reasonable sum. This was said to have annoyed Ugo, who gave the victim a dirty slap and he became dizzy.
Fearing for his life,Ademola jumped out of the car and took to his heels, leaving behind his car, phone and ATM card, phone and car. The suspects took the items to a cocaine joint for their next move.
They decided to take the car to the Ladipo vehicle spare parts market in Mushin with a view to disposing off it . However,by the time they returned to the market the following morning, the vehicle had been vandalised by some traders.
Unfortunately for the gang, their victim had spotted Ugo trying to take a ride on a commercial motorcycle. He quickly held him,shouting ‘ole’.A crowd soon gathered and asked Ugo to defend himand he confessed that three of them robbed him and snatched his Honda car.
With the help of the crowd, which had given him the beating of his life, he was taken to Olosan Police Station, Mushin where he was detained before he was transferred to SARS.
When the police and the victim got to Ladipo Market, they found that the Honda car had been vandalized. They towed it to the police station. They also arrested Obinna who confessed that he was an armed robber and leader of the gang. But he said he did not rob the victim but was only present when he was being robbed.
Confirming the incident the Command’s spokesman, DSP Ken Nwosu, said investigation was still ongoing to fish out other members of the gang.