Lady arrested for leading robbery gang to rob Uber driver

Ijeoma Okeke

A lady has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly leading a gang of robbers to rob an Uber driver at the Lekki area of the metropolis.

According to the police, the robbery occurred along the road, on 19^th October 2018. Items recovered from the gang are a cut to size double barrel gun with two live cartridges.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, said that the lady had placed a call, explaining that she needed an Uber driver that would take her from Oniru to Orchid Hotel by 2^nd Toll Gate, Lekki.

Imohimi said: “The Uber driver didn’t know that the lady he picked from Oniru, heading to Orchid Hotel, belonged to a gang of robbers. On their way to the hotel, the woman asked the driver to pull over. She claimed that she wanted to collect money from her boyfriend. The driver obliged her request and quickly pulled over. In the process, three armed men emerged and robbed the driver of his Toyota Corolla car with registration number, KRD-827-EY. The robbers also robbed him of his two phones and a cash of N20, 000.00. Thereafter, they zoomed off with the woman.”

Imohimi further explained: “On receiving the report, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oshodi-Tapa, Lagos Island base, swung into action. The operatives visited the scene of the incident and picked up object of evidential value for analysis. The result of the enquiry led to the arrest of two of the suspects involved in the crime, namely: Zino Tochukwu  Ude  and Anumelechi Chris Williams. During Interrogation, they confessed to the crime. They assisted the operatives to recover the stolen car. They equally confessed to series of car snatching operations in Lagos and other states. Also, one Honda Saloon Car, with registration number GGE- 954-BQ which the gang snatched in Delta State was recovered.”

Imohimi said that the command was already making efforts to inform the owner of the Honda Saloon Car, to come and identify his vehicle and pick it up.

The CP said that the command also arrested five suspects, who specialised in stealing motorcycles along Agege, Dopemu and other parts of Lagos State. The suspects were arrested on 26^th January 2019.

Imohimi stated: “Some of the arm robbers were having a field day along Adewunmi Adebisi Street, Agege Lagos, robbing unsuspecting victims of their valuables. It was based on the information the command received that a combined team of operatives from Dopemu Police Station and SARS Ikeja swiftly moved into action. On sighting the operatives, the robbers scampered in different directions to avoid being arrested. They were chased, leading to the arrest of Damilare Adegbayibi. The suspect later led the operatives to arrest four other members of the gang, Ojeshola Osundairo, Basiru Suleiman,  Rasak Osunmade, and Haruna Ibarhim.”

Imohimi said that on closer examination of the robbery scene, two lifeless bodies were found on the ground. Further enquiries revealed that they were stabbed to death. The victims were later identified as Alayinwa, a security personnel attached to the street and Ibrahim Akinbumi, a resident of Adewunmi Adebisi Street, Agege Lagos.

“It was discovered that the robbers apart from robbing unsuspecting members of the public  of their valuables, also specialized in stealing motorcycles around Agege, Dopemu, and other part of Lagos and sell same to their receiver, Ibrahim Harunna,” said Imohmi. “They further confessed to have sold over 150 motorcycles to the said Ibrahim Harunna, out of which 11 were recovered.”

The police recovered three cut to size locally made guns with six live and four un-expended cartridges.