An
alleged highway robber has told men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad,
Lagos, that he and his gang members used toy guns to intimidate
passengers.
It was learnt that the 37-year-old
suspect, Mmaduabuchukwu Ibe, was arrested with a locally-made bullet
proof vests inscribed with ‘police’.
According to police authorities, the suspect belongs to a gang which specialises in robbing commercial buses on highways.
Ibe was alleged to have been part of a
gang of armed robbers which attacked two East-bound passenger buses
along Sagamu, Ogun State, dispossessing passengers of their belongings
on December 31, 2013.
During the robbery operation, the suspects were said to have ordered passengers to lie face down while they robbed them.
It was learnt during the robbery; the robbers snatched a bus belonging to
transport company, G.C Okoli and drove to Lagos State.
transport company, G.C Okoli and drove to Lagos State.
It was learnt that the robbers however
encountered a team of policemen around Berger Bus Stop and on seeing the
policemen, they fled.
Ibe was arrested while the others escaped.
It was learnt that when the bus was searched, five locally-made vests with the inscription, police, were found inside the bus.
While parading the suspect, Police
Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the remaining suspects
escaped with bullet wounds.
Braide said they wore improvised
bulletproof jackets and used tapes to inscribe ‘police’ on the polythene
bag so that any driver that saw them might stop, thinking they were
policemen.
Ibe gave the names of the remaining suspects as Ike, Sunday, Miracle and Monday.
Ibe, a native of Anambra State claimed
to have recently returned from Ghana as well as Senegal, where he lived
for several years.
The suspect, who claimed to be a cart
pusher, said it was poverty that pushed him to crime adding that this
was his first robbery operation.
He said the weapons they used for the highway robbery were made of wood.
He said, “We robbed two commercial
busses at Sagamu that fateful day. We did not get anything from the
first bus because all the passengers ran into the bush but from the
second bus we were able to capture seven passengers and we collected
their money and handsets. I did not get a kobo because I did not know
how much they collected and we did not share the money before I was
arrested.
“We did not operate with guns but wooden
and taped guns that were mere toys. I would help police to arrest
members still at large and other criminals living in Oyingbo area of
Lagos if I am allowed to join the police when released.
“I returned from Ghana three months ago
and the gang members treated me with kindness when I was in financial
distress as they purchased a wheel barrow for me. I was making a living
with the barrow when they invited me to join in the operation which took
them to Sagamu in Ogun State.”
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