Men posing as motorbike riders held for robbery

Detectives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Lagos State Police Command, have arrested a five-man-gang of car snatchers.

According to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the gang specialized in snatching exotic cars and terrorizing motorists and residents around Ikorodu and its environs.

The suspects, Sunday Ejah 30, Michael Yakubu 34, Samuel Adeniyi 32, Sunday Odah 27 and Emmanuel Ihenacho 27, were arrested at Baruwa Ipaja area of Lagos after hijacking the vehicle at Ita Oluwo Ikorodu.

The hijacked car, a Toyota Corolla, marked, AGL 143, was recovered by the police.

Detectives trailed the armed robbers after receiving distress call that a Toyota Corolla had been snatched at Ita Oluwo area of Ikorodu, on March 5, 2016. The hijacking occurred around 5:30am.

One of the suspects, Odah, who also rides a motorcycle, said that he was at the park when he was called to take the gang members to Ita Oluwo. He insisted he never knew they were armed robbers.

Odah said: “My colleagues and I were at our park when two of these men approached us. They said we should take them to Agbede at Ita Oluwo area. Suddenly, when a grey car approached, they asked me to double cross the vehicle with my motorbike. I thought the driver was their friend. It wasn’t until they brought out their guns and ordered the owner to get down from the car that I knew they were robbers.”

He said that after the operation, he tried to escape, but the bandits alleged threatened to shoot him.

According to him, he later escaped before the police came to his house a week later to arrest him. They accused him of being a member of the gang.  

Police sources said: “They are five-man-gang of robbers. They used motorbike in their operations. They act as commercial bike riders during day time and when it’s night, they snatch cars. But luck has run out on them.”

Odah said: “If I had known that they were armed robbers, I wouldn’t have taken them anywhere.”

Yakubu, another motorbike rider, was also arrested for participating in the operation.

 Recounting his own story, Yakubu said he took part in car snatching because money he was making from commercial bike riding wasn’t enough to take care of his family. He added that he joined the gang in 2015.

 “My colleague and I were in our park when two men approached us. They said we should take them to Agbede at Ita Oluwo area. When we got there, we saw an elderly man, who was about to drive into his house. One of them asked me to use my motorbike to cross the old man’s vehicle. He said we should snatch the car from him.

“Immediately after the car was snatched, the five of us drove from Ikorodu to Baruwa areas of Ipaja were they said the vehicle would be delivered to someone in the area. We were waiting for the person to come and collect the vehicle when policemen came and arrested.”  

The alleged gang leader, Iheanacho, a spare part dealer, said he wouldn’t have gone into crime, if not that his shop at Ladipo Market was demolished in 2014. He started smuggling car from Benin Republic.

 He said: “I was on my way from Seme in January when I met one Sunday. He asked if I could get him Toyota Corolla vehicles from Nigeria. He promised to pay me handsomely. I invited my friend Adeniyi to join me in the business and he accepted. Since we started the operation in 2014, we have snatched about 15 Toyota Corolla cars. Our own work is to hijack and drive it to Baruwa where someone would come from Sunday and move the cars to Seme before taking it Cotonou. I have also made about N1million from car snatching.”

Adeniyi, a commercial bike rider, said that his role in the gang was to move stolen cars from where they were snatched.

Adeniyi continued: “It was Iheanacho who introduced me into robbery. Every one of us has our own role in the gang. My role is to drive the stolen vehicles to Baruwa before taking it to Cotonou. The receiver of the vehicles brought the pistol we use for the operation.”