‘I DIDN’T KNOW MEN PREACHING TO ME WERE ROBBERS’

Okechukwu

When a Good Samaritan gave lift to three commuters who started preaching to him about God and churches, he never in his wildest imagination bargained were wolves in human skin.

 Mr Moses Okechukwu said that he gave the three men lift and was shocked out of his bone marrows when one of them suddenly whipped out a gun and tried to rob him at the 1004 Housing Estate in Lagos Island.
According to him, one moment the men were preaching to him, attempting to convince to join the Reedemed Church of God and the next, they were pointing a gun at him.
He said:  “I decided to give  the four of them lift simply because I didn’t want to be alone in the car. Immediately I stopped at the bus stop, the commuters rushed. The three youngmen and lady entered. When we got to Ikate Bus Stop,  along the Lekki – Epe Expressway, the lady alighted and gave me her transport fare.  I told her not to worry. The three men said they would be alighting at Jakande First Gate.
“After the lady alighted, I and the men started chatting and joking. They even demanded to know the church I attend.  I told them I’m a member of every church. One of them advised me to worship with the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He said it wasthe best church to worship.”
Few minutes to Jakande Pedestrian Bridge, where the three men said they wanted to alight, the supposed men of God, turned to wolves.
Okechukwu said that the one seated beside him at the front seat, whipped out a gun and pointed it at him.
Okechukwu recalled the chilling words of the man“He said ‘Oga,’  we’re sorry for what you are seeing, because you are a nice man. But at this point you have to cooperate with us. At the moment I was shocked when I first saw the gun pointed at me.”
Okechukwu said he was ordered not to raise his voice. He said he was still in shock and obeyed them. He asked them why they wanted to repay his kindness to them by snatching his car.
Rather than reply him, they barked at him to step down from the car. “One of them hit me with an object and the one with gun also hit me with the gun,” narrated Okechukwu.
For reasons he could not fathom, one of them with the gun, said Okechukwu did not want to cooperate and immediately opened fire on him.
Whether the gunmen did not know how to use the gun or there was a divine power watching over Okechukwu, he could not explain. All he knew was that shot thrice at him, but the bullets fell short of hitting him.
He said: “When the third shot did not get me, I summoned courage and struggled with the one holding the gun. I disarmed him. I collected the gun, but  I didn’t know how to use it. That  was how they were able to drive  the car away. Had it been I knew how  to shoot, I would  have shot at the tyres of the vehicle.
“After they had gone with the car, I was still on the expressway waving frantically  at vehicles on the expressway to come to rescue, but none stopped. Then I saw a Rapid Response  Squad[RRS] van. I flagged them down and handed the gun to them.”
Okechukwu and the RRS team chased after the robbers, but could not get them.
He said: “That same night, I and the RRS went to Ilasan Police Station to report the incident. I was also given four men from the Police Station to go after the armed robbers.  That night, we searched the nooks and cranies of Lagos Island and Epe road all to no vail.”
He said that his phones and some cash were in the car. When he got home, he used his wife’s phone to call his. One of the robbers picked and railed at him.
“The robber who picked the phone, said  I fucked up, but I told him that they were the people that fucked up, because I assisted them. They said they only wanted to use the car for operation  and would have dumped it somewhere. But know I have made them armless. That they didn’t have any gun to work with any more.”
They asked him how they could get their gun back. They further instructed him to call them by  4am the next day, that they would tell him where to drop the gun and where he could pick his car. Following police directives, Okechukwu did not meet them as agreed. Later investigation took a good turn.
Okechukwu said: “It was through my IPO that I got to know the armed robbers had been arrested at Ibadan when they went on operation and my car was recovered from them.”