Rather than scream and hand the money to them out of fear, the lady refused to play ball. Instead, she latched onto one of the men and started screaming her lungs out.
Even as they repeatedly threatened to shoot her, the lady held on to one of the men like her life depended on the action. The unfortunate armed robber, whom she held was later identified as Collins Ebong, 26.
Ironically, Ebong went on this fateful operation just two days after he walked out of prison a free man. When it dawned on Ebong’s partners that the daring lady was not going to let Ebong go, they jumped on their getaway motorbike and zoomed off.
Ebong kicked and scratched as he struggled to free himself from the lady’s hold, but the lady refused to relax her grip until help came. Recalling how he became a guest at the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, Ebong said he had never met such a lady before in his entire life. He said: “We saw the lady going to withdraw money from the bank’s ATM pool. The three of us; Walata and Matthew rode on a motorcycle to Zenith Bank at Ajah. The time was around 8pm. Walata and Mathew were on the motorbike, but I got down and loitered around, waiting and watching.
I saw a lady coming out of the Zenith Bank’s ATM pool. She had gone to cash money with her ATM card. I was holding a toy gun. It was Walata who gave me the toy gun. When she drew closer, I pointed the gun at her. Maybe she noticed that it was a toy gun, I really can’t say. But the woman was a true woman of God. She screamed Jesus Christ at the top of her voice. In fact, the echo of her voice arrested me. I couldn’t run. I was unable to move. I stood still. She lifted and threw me to the ground. Not up to two minutes, people surrounded me. Policemen that were on patrol duty were alerted.
They responded immediately and took me to the Ajah Police Station.” Police investigators described Ebong as a habitual criminal who had once been to prison. The police said: “To tell you the truth, the suspect had just been released from Ikoyi Prison on March 6 and went with his gang members on March 8 to attempt to rob the lady after she withdrew money from the ATM.” The suspect, who said he was not married, said he was a baker, adding: “I was arrested in front of Zenith Bank while trying to snatch money from a lady who just collected money from ATM. We were three in number that went for the operation. My friends escaped. The woman held me and was shouting. A crowd gathered. I was arrested. This is my first time of trying to rob somebody.” He explained that his friend, Wale, allegedly fabricated the toy gun and invited him for the robbery.
Insisting that the attack on the lady was random, Ebong said that they launched the attack around 8:30pm. Revealing the offence that led him to prison, Ebong said: “Yes, I’ve been to prison before! It happened last year. There was a riot. Some men fought for some land speculators. We were arrested. I was in their mist, drinking when we were arrested. I spent 10 months in Ikoyi prisons. I was charged for robbery. When the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) revisited my case after several adjournments, they discovered I had no case to answer. The case ended. I came out on March 6. This robbery case that brought me to SARS occurred on March 8.” Ebong said that he met Wale the next day after he was released from prison. He met him at a place he went to do brick laying work. Wale found a toy gun at the site and convinced him to join him in using the ‘gun to look for money.’
Wale had also told him that he was not really he bricklayer, but only using the job as cover for his real profession, which was armed robbery. Ebong is the fifth child in a family of eight. He said his father is a pastor with the Church of God Mission in Akwa Ibom State and his mother, a petty trader. He recalled that his siblings had warned him on the fateful day of his arrest that “I should not get involved in anything that would cause me to regret. I turned deaf ears to their warnings. I’ll turn the world around for God if I’m given another chance. I’ve learnt my lesson.” The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed the arrest, said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti had already ordered the Officer-in-charge of SARS, a Superintendent of Police (SP), Mr. Abba Kyari, to go after the other fleeing members of the gang.
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