‘Christmas money made me join in car snatching’

Chukwuemeka Obikachi has told policemen that he joined a gang of car snatchers because he wanted to raise enough money for a bumper Christmas celebration.

He was already planning and plotting how to spend the money he had not yet seen before policemen arrested on December, 6, 2014.

The suspect said he belonged to a four-man-gang of robbers.

Police alleged that the gang has three locally made guns and has it’s hideout at Kuramo, Lekki, Lagos State.

He was arrested by a team of policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Command. The police are already on the trail of the fleeing gang members.

Obikachi said: “God wanted police to arrest me so that I would become a changed person. The man who took me out for robbery told me to go with him so that I could raise enough money for Christmas celebration.”

The Police recovered a snatched Highlander Jeep from the gang belonging to one Ismaila.

A police source said: “The owner of the Jeep, Mr. Ismaila, was attacked when he went to visit to someone at Lekki. He was waiting for the gate to be opened, when the gang suddenly attacked. He was even stripped of his clothes. The gang members decided to take him to an unknown destination. As they approached Chevron Gate, Mr. Ismaila struggled and pushed the car gear to a stop. He started shouting. Apparently scared, other members quickly fled, but Obikachi was not lucky. Police at Chevron Gate arrested him. Police searched him and recovered a barrette pistol with three live cartridges.” 

The suspect, who said he used to ‘hustle’ to sell jeans at Yaba Market, explained that one of his customers, Henry, initiated him into the gang.

He further said that Henry and his colleagues misled him. He said that Henry told him that Mr. Ismaila owed him some money and that he wanted to collect his money. He didn’t know they were going to rob Ismaila.

His words: “Mr. Henry is my customer. After buying clothes from me that day, he took me to a place and bought me drinks. He took me to Small Kuramo in Jakande area of Lekki. We were still in the beer parlour when two other men came to join us. They are Tunde and Chinedu. Mr. Henry said they were his colleagues. We were there till 7-8pm. It was Tunde who said we should go and meet Mr. Ismaila that he owed him some money.”

When they got to Ismaila’s house, he was standing at the gate. The gang stealthily approached and attacked him.

Tunde grabbed him by the trouser and collected his car key. He handed the key to Chinedu.

“I entered the front seat of the Jeep. On our way, we got to a certain place where the victim was well known.  He suddenly held the steering, put the car gear to a stop and started shouting. He held me was he was shouting.  Henry and others started running. People living around the area rushed out. They started beating me and took me to Chevron Police Post,” recounted Obikachi.

Speaking on the gun found on him, Obikachi said it belonged to Henry. He said Henry dropped it as he made good his escape.

He however added: “We used two guns. The guns were provided by Tunde. During the operation, Henry and Tunde used to handle the guns. I have worked with the gang only twice. The first was also at Ajah area. We snatched a car, but the owner recovered it from where we parked it. It was a Honda Accord and it has inbuilt security. The second operation is that one that landed me in police trouble.”