The Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has announced the arrest of a
suspected mastermind of last weekend's failed robbery attempt on a first
generation bank in Mpape, Abuja.
According to
the command, the fleeing suspect, Ernest Ewim, was arrested at his hideout
within the Katampe 1 general area of Abuja, by detectives. This brings the
total number of suspects arrested to five.
It will be
recalled that one suspect was gunned down at the scene of the foiled robbery
incident. During the presentation of four suspects in connection with the
foiled robbery incident to journalists on Tuesday, a banker, Larry Ehizo, who
drove the suspects into the bank premises in his car, had accused Ewim of being
the mastermind.
Ehizo
said: "I met Ernest in November and
we had a discussion at where we used to hang out. I said something after he
complained about our services in the bank. We almost got into a serious
argument and I told him that the only thing he would do was to get angry and
maybe not bank with us again. He said he was going to hurt someone and I told
him not to do that. I told him that the highest he could do was to rob the bank
to make them feel bad. I did not know he had that on record and he used that to
threaten and blackmail me. He said that that I must take the people that he
would bring into the bank. He also threatened my family, my girlfriend and
people around me. After that, I was afraid to go to the police because he said
even if I go to the police, that he had already informed his colleagues. He is
a cultist. He said that anything I got after the robbery, that I should take
it.”
The police
disclosed that the suspect was smoked-out of his hideout on January 1.
The
statement by the police reads in part: “Following the on-going investigation in
the last Saturday’s foiled robbery attempt at a bank in Mpape, Operatives of
the FCT Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have arrested Ernest
Ewim, 29, a member of the notorious armed robbery gang, who had been at large.
The suspect, who played a major role in the foiled robbery attempt, was
arrested by a team of detectives at his hideout in Katampe1 on January 2020, 1,
at about 4: pm. With the arrest of Ewim, the numbers of suspects arrested in
connection with the foiled robbery attempt are now five. The suspects are
Ernest Ewim (29), Larry Ehizom (30), Princewill Obinna (24), Timothy Joe (21)
21years, and Elijah David (19). The Command reiterates its unwavering
commitment to ensure the protection of lives and property and provide FCT
residents with quality service delivery.”
The Police vowed
to charge the suspects to court, upon conclusion of investigation.
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