• The suspected burglars
The
Lagos State Police Command has arrested three suspected burglars for
allegedly breaking into a gold store in Ikeja, Lagos, and stealing
pieces of gold valued over N23m.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the
suspects ─ Moses Obande, Ogbulaja Ogaba and Izuchukwu Ezeobi ─ allegedly
burgled the gold store situated on Unity Road, Mobolaji Bank Anthony
Way, Ikeja, Lagos, and escaped with the precious material.
Our correspondent gathered that the
three suspects were apprehended by operatives of the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, led by SP Abba Kyari, after the owner of the store,
identified simply as Mrs. Ekong, reported the matter to the former
Commissioner of Police, AIG Umar Manko.
The police stated that apart from the
N23m gold, the suspects also made away with N108,000 from the store. It
was gathered that one of them, Obande, was working as a security man at
the gold store at the time of the burglary.
After the store was burgled, our
correspondent learnt that the three men allegedly met at a hotel in
Bolade, Oshodi, where they discussed plans to sell their loot. Ogaba
allegedly got 35 pieces of gold from Obande, which he sold to one Mallam
Garba for N80,000.
Obande, it was learnt, allegedly took the remaining pieces to Yaba, and sold them for N1.2m.
According to the police, the mode of
operation of the gang, apart from working as security guards, was the
use of fake certificates, addresses and unregistered SIM cards which
made it difficult for them to be traced.
Thirty-two-year-old Obande from Okopkwu,
Benue State, said he connived with his friends to burgle his employer’s
gold store because he needed to pay his house rents, having endured
disturbances from his landlady.
He said, “I was a security man and lived
with my family at Olufunmilayo Close, in the Agbado Ijaiye area of
Lagos. I have stayed in Lagos since 2007. I was employed at the place in
October 2013 and was earning N17,000 monthly.
“The certificates I used to get the job
belong to my younger brother. I needed to pay for my rents at that time.
So, I resorted to that action.”
Obande, who is married with two
children, added that he used the money he realised from the burglary to
relocate his family to Benue State where he started plank business. It
was learnt that the SARS operatives arrested him in his hometown.
For 28-year-old Ogaba from Ado, also in
Benue State, his N80,000 share was used to register his siblings for a
terminal examination.
He said, “I was doing car wash business
in the Agege area. I knew Moses when he was staying at neighbouring Iju
Ishaga area. What really happened was that he told me he got a security
man job at a gold store, and that he planned to burgle the shop and flee
with the money.
“He invited me to join him. One morning,
he called me on the telephone to say he had already carried out his
plan and asked me to meet him at a location. There, he gave me 35 pieces
to sell for him, and I did and made N80,000. I used the money to
register my siblings for the Senior Secondary School Certificate
Examinations.”
In his own confession, Ezeobi, 36, from
Anambra State, claimed he had only provided Obande with a buyer for the
stolen gold pieces, but did not collect any money.
He said, “I work as a printer and also
do video editing jobs. I got to know Moses in 2010 through one Emma. I
was formerly living in Kogi State. It is true that he called my number
after he burgled the store and asked me to get him a buyer for the
stolen goods. But I never collected any money from him. I did not know
how much he even sold them.”
PUNCH
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