Robbery SuspectsA 12-man robbery gang, which had terrorised the residents of Bariga, Egbeda, Idimu, Mile 2 and Apapa areas of Lagos State, has been smashed by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of Lagos State Police Command.
The command was said to have been on the trail of the gang for some time after an order from the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu A Alkali, that the gang should be tracked down. SARS men were said to have got a hint that one of the suspects, Miriam Onwuka, was about to smuggle some riffles to the gang in Koko, Delta State. So, led by Abba Kyari, the police arrested Miriam, who in turn helped the police to arrest some members of the gang, while the others are still at large.
The 20-year-old suspect, who hails from Kwale, Delta State, said her role in the gang was to carry weapons in a bag to any place the gang, led by her boyfriend, Charles, wanted to rob. Indeed, she was caught during an attempt to take rifles to the gang in Koko, Delta State.
Speaking to The Nation, she said: "I wanted to study Petroleum Engineering. Since I could not gain admission, I went to Apapa to assist my sick mother’s sister, who sells hot drinks and beer at Tin Can area. It was there that Charles met me and told me that he wanted a relationship that would lead to marriage. He said he was a successful clearing and forwarding agent. He used to buy drinks every day.
"Later, I noticed some changes in him and begged him to tell me what he did for a living. He told me he used force to collect things from people. That is armed robbery. I could not leave him because we had been together for long. I love him so much and he cares for me a lot."
On how she was arrested, she said: "Charles, my boyfriend, called one Okada man named John to take me to Mile 2 Motor Park where I intended to board a bus to Koko in Delta State. He told me to call him on the phone when I reached Koko. He gave me a bag containing three AK-47 riffles. Initially, I did not know that they were guns, but I carried the bag on my laps. It was very heavy. When we reached Mile 2, the Okada man wanted to help me carry the bag but I refused. I later allowed him to carry it. He opened it and found three AK-47 riffles and shouted to people. People gathered and beat me up and handed me over to the police.
"I have not gained anything from loving an armed robber. I have stained my image and my family name. I regret befriending an armed robber. I carried the bag because he is almost my husband to be and I was obedient to him. I did not want to lose him because I love him."
Another suspect, Chima Oko Chima, a 30-year-old native of Ohofia in Abia State, claimed he was seeking admission into the university at the time he was arrested. He said he had been taking the Joint Matriculation Examination (JME) since 1998 when he left secondary school.
He explained that upon the death of his father in 2006, he travelled to Lagos in search of greener pastures, which took him to the port. At the port, he joined a gang that specialised in vandalising imported tokunbo (fairly used) cars.
He said: "When the ship landed with ‘tokunbo’ cars, we would go there in at night, say between 3am and 4.10am. I have a jack knife, which I used in removing the brain box, which I sold between N10,000 and N15,000. I also removed the side mirrors and wheel covers, the crombs and the stereos in the cars.
"It was during one of the days I was removing the parts of a car that I was caught and sent to prison by Court 2 in Nnewi House, Apapa, Lagos. Miriam’s joint was where we waited for buyers of stolen goods, while we relaxed and drank to while away time.
"After selling my loot, I would stay at the joint to enjoy myself. I was getting enough money from it to feed, save for my university education, have fun and send small money to my mother in the village to take care of my younger ones.
"But one day, I was caught in the act and sent to prison by Court 2. I spent 13 months in prison. I have participated in four robbery operations. I have never killed anybody in all the operations I have participated in. I only used gun to seek compliance and to intimidate victims."
The second suspect, one Godwin Adams, from Sango Kataf, Kaduna, aged 29, from Sango Kataf, Kaduna State, said: "I am a trailer driver. My father and mother are still in Kaduna. When I came down to Lagos, I went to River Side, Apapa to hustle. There I met Ugochukwu, Emeka, Ade, Wale, Stephen and one other person I cannot remember his name. I met them in Club K55, Apapa. They lured me into armed robbery.
"We operated at Apapa, Badagry and Egbeda areas. We operated in three ways. In some areas in Apapa, if we saw somebody carrying a heavy amount of money, we would kidnap that person and drive him to a lonely and quiet area. Then we would search him and take his money, shoes, wrist watch or handset and drive off.
"We also robbed in hotels. Whenever we drove into a hotel, we were going there to rob. We would first of all hold the security man at the gate and tie his legs. Where they were two, we would order the second security man to take us to the reception. Where the gateman was the only one, we would order him to take us inside the reception at gun point.
"The receptionist would then be ordered to take us to the manager’s office and the manager would show us the hotel safe. He either opened it for us or we blew it open with our guns. If we did not get enough money, we would search the rooms in order to rob the guests.
"If we operated in residential buildings, we would rob the people room by room. Once we gained access, we would block the passage, divide ourselves so that each room would be ransacked and looted. We collected money, handsets and other portable property like DVD sets. We would ask all the tenants to lie down with a warning that anybody who dared to get up would be fired. It was only a threat, because we had never fired a shot at anybody.
"We operated with AK-47, and if you saw us during an operation, you would think we were soldiers, because of the way we fired to scare people. At times, we wore the camouflage clothes we bought from second-hand clothes markets in Lagos.
"I left the gang in February last year when they started seeing me as a traitor. One of our gang members, called Stephen, was arrested and sent to Ikoyi prison and they said I was the one who informed the police. They threatened to implicate me or set me up, so I ran away from them and that was how I came to know Charles, the leader of a new gang.
"I participated in six armed robbery operations before I left them. I bought two motorcycles and sent them to my home town, Sango Kataf, and used them for commercial purposes."
Source : thenationonlineng.net
Source : thenationonlineng.net
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