ChristainA suspected armed robber, Christian Okafor, 31, has revealed that his late father was the leader of a robbery gang before he was poisoned to death by one of his gang members for exposing the gang to the Police.
In an exclusive chat with our correspondent, the robbery suspect, whose wife is said to run a boutique in Yaba part of Lagos, described himself as a native of Umunobo village, Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.
He said: "I sell new clothes in Yaba Market in Lagos. My father retired as an armed robber. He operated in Anambra State, Lagos and the North, particularly Sokoto. He used to train and arm any gang he formed. He later retired but his boys were not happy, because he used to expose them to the Police. He was later poisoned to death.
"I was very small then and I wanted to replace him and avenge his death. Hence, I became an armed robber. I am not ashamed to do what my father did.
Asked how he was arrested, he said: "It was on Ketu Road on Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at about noon. I saw somebody making a phone call to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, telling them that robbery was going on in a bus along Ketu Road, Lagos.
"I told our leader, Chibuzor, who was with a pistol to get him for calling SARS. But before we knew it, the SARS men arrived and people told them where we were. Our leader noticed it and entered our get-away car, which was standing by.
"The driver could not wait for us to enter, even though we had finished operation. He left us behind. The SARS operatives came and asked us to surrender ourselves if we did not want them to use their rifles. Two of us surrendered ourselves to the SARS men. Their leader, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, ordered them to handcuff us and they put us in a police vehicle and took us to the Police Headquarters in Ikeja."
Recalling how they conceived the robbery operation, he said: "We were three: myself, Ifeanyi Udeh and our leader, Chibuzor. He took us to Benin, City on a business trip. He said there was an importer of clothes that would like to supply us imported clothes worth millions of naira to sell in Lagos and take commission. We were very happy. We left for Benin- City on a Sunday and stayed till the following Wednesday when Chibuzor gave each of us N3,000 as our transport fares back to Lagos.
"We went to Efosa Motor Park, Iyaro Benin-City around 8 am to board a bus to Lagos. Each of us paid N1,800. We were on Ketu Road, Lagos, Chinedu, who sat in front of the bus with a pistol, ordered the driver to stop. A traffic jam was building up in the area.
"He also ordered all the passengers, including myself and Udeh, to come out and lie flat on the ground. He then ordered us to search all the passengers while they lay down. We collected their money (cash), phones, wrist watches, earrings and expensive shoes.
"When we noticed that one man hid his money in his pant, we asked everyone to undress completely. We did not rape any woman, to avoid being trapped. After collecting every valuable item we found on the passengers and the driver, our leader ordered us to use one of the passengers’ travelling bag to load our loot, which we did and handed over to him.
"He told us to be on the alert as he called the driver of our get-away car, whose duty was to come and take us away from the scene. We did not know that people had started making calls to SARS. When I realised that, I told our leader, Chinedu, to gun down the man that was calling SARS.
"But as soon as he entered the bus, he noticed that SARS had arrived in the area. He then ordered the bus driver to move on, and he went away with our loot in the travelling bag.
"We were stranded at the scene as the crowd increased because of the presence of SARS men. When the man who led the operation (Abba Kyari) told us to surrender if we wanted to live, we quickly gave ourselves up and his men handcuffed us and took us away in their vehicle.
"I was very small when my father died. He used to deceive people that he was a business man selling Mangala fish in the North, but I knew him as a very notorious robbery gang leader and trainer of armed robbers."
Udeh, 27, a native of Ozom Aguobo village in Eziagu Local Government Area, Enugu State, said he was a spare parts dealer at 11, Oloto Street, Wilobi area of Oyingbo in Lagos before he took to armed robbery.
Speaking to The Nation, he said: "I did not begin life as an armed robber. I was led into robbery by Chibuzor. I knew armed robbers because after dismantling snatched vehicles, they would bring the parts to me as imported spare parts. I made money from it, because I could buy a whole dismantled vehicle for N30,000.
"At times, they dumped them with me and I gave them whatever I liked. Therefore, when Chibuzor told me to follow him to Benin, I could not object because my life and success depended entirely on his cooperation with me.
"He gave me N3,000 and I paid N1,800 as transport fare. Our leader escaped and both of us were arrested when SARS operatives arrived. He escaped with the car driver he phoned to come and take us away after robbery. We were very unlucky.
"Help me tell my father to forgive me, because we don’t have armed robbers in our family. I am not proud to be the first armed robber arrested in my family. I also advise young men to run away from bad and corrupt friends to avoid the kind of situation I have found myself. Crime does not pay. Once you are in it, you will not take advice from responsible people, including your parents or friends, until you are arrested.
"If God saves me from this problem I created for myself, I will openly fight any criminal that comes near me."
On what they used the sledge hammer that was found on them for, he said: "We used it to create in a wall a big hole through which we can pass, especially when the building has a strong iron gate. It also helps the gang to enter a building without the occupants knowing until they are captured.
"As for the saw, we used it to cut thick iron rods and strong padlocks. At times, we frightened the owner of the house with it; like threatening to cut off his fingers or legs. We smoke Indian hemp to overcome fear."
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Suleiman Abba, urged SARS operatives not to relent in wiping out armed robbers from the state to help Lagos maintain its reputation as the centre of excellence, peace and positive development.
The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Samuel A. Jinadu, who confirmed the arrest of the robbery suspects, said the command would not relent in its efforts to reduce crime to its lowest ebb in the state.
Source : www.thenationonlineng.net
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