‘Why I always sacrificed to God at T-Junctions after killing’

Juliana Francis

Ezinne Grace Iroh

A suspected armed robber, Godwin Rafael, 32, has explained why he always goes to T-junctions at night to make sacrifices to God after killing people during operations.

Police said that Rafael’s gang, which specialised in attacking Point of Sale, POS, operators, in Aba Town, Abia State, has killed three people, but the gang members, who are presently in police custody, admitted killing only two POS operators during operation

The two are a man, identified as Dr Victor Chimaobi, killed along Market Road by Kent Street Aba, on January 21, 2021 and Miss Ezinne Grace Iroh, was robbed and killed on January 31, 2021, at Ukaegbu Street, in Ogbor Hill area of Aba.

According to Rafael, after both killings, he had gone to T-junctions at night to make a sacrifice to God, asking for forgiveness. He said that any time he promised God that he would stop robbery; he would find himself going for another operation.

Chimaobi

The suspects

His words: “The second operation was at Market Road by Kents in Aba. We robbed a POS operator, but this time it was a man. I shot him on the cheek because he pushed my gang member, Chibuike Sunday. We were five that went on that operation and I got N7000 as my share of the loot.”

Rafael said that when he heard that the victim died, he went to drop his share of the money at a T-junction and then prayed to God, asking Him for forgiveness.

He added: “I didn’t know the operation would take his life. I dropped the money at that junction, hoping it would serve as atonement for my sins. I took a vow never to go for any robbery again. A few weeks later, my gang members and I went to visit a friend along Ukgwu Street in Ogbor Hill. One of our friends, Santiago, suggested we should rob a POS operator, who was on that same street. I objected because I’m well known in that area, but Santiago and Chibuike robbed and killed the lady. They collected the sum of N150, 000. We were five that went for the operation. I got N23,000 as my share. When we got home, news came that the woman we robbed was dead. We all fought with Santiago for killing the woman. He told us that the woman struggled with him and she left him no choice than to shoot her. I used the money to travel out of Abia State. I went to Abuja, where I spent two weeks. I was arrested when I returned to Aba. I didn’t know how the police got to know I was involved in the operation. I had no choice than to tell them all I know. I also assisted in arresting six other members of our gang, including Abraham, our tricycle rider. However, Santiago is still at large.”

Policemen attached to the Force Intelligence Response Team, (IRT), Abia State, smashed the gang.  Aside from Rafael, other gang members in IRT custody are; Basil Macdonald, Emeka Uche, Uzoma Samuel, Sunday Chibuike, Godwin Kalu and Abraham Thompson.

They were arrested after the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, instructed the head of IRT, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, to select a crack team and head to Abia State, to find out and arrest the gang, which has been targeting POS operators.

The police alleged that the gang on November 1, 2020, kidnapped Achinulo Ignatius, 59, at the Osisioma junction, along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and killed the victim after collecting a ransom of N2.5 million from his relatives.

The activities of these gangs caused POS operators and business owners in Aba Town to live in fear.

Alarmed businessmen and women had synergised and written a letter to the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, asking for help.

The governor called for a security meeting, where he urged traditional rulers, vigilante groups, tricycle riders and POS operators to work closely with security agents in the state in supplying information. He said that the information would ensure arrest of the gang.

Ikpeazu also offered a reward of N2 Million to anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the gang or its members.

It was gathered that acting on credible information, Kyari and his men arrested a key member of the gang, later as Godwin Rafael. Rafael was alleged to be the person that shot Chimaobi to death.

A police source said: “Rafael was arrested while he was about fleeing Abia State. During interrogation, he confessed to being a member of the gang which carried out the POS robberies, killings and kidnappings within Aba Town. He also disclosed that members of the gang were all recruited from the Vikings confraternity known as Arobaga.  According to him, the gang took advantage of the #EndSARS protest in setting up their gang, hoping that there would be no police to hunt for them.” 

Rafael led the IRT operatives in arresting six members of his gang. The suspect, who introduced himself as an interior decorator, married with two children, recalling how he joined the gang, said his education stopped at the secondary school level.

He explained: “My journey into crime began when one of my friends, CJ, got me initiated into the Vikings confraternity. I then became friends with one Henderson, Uloma and Handsome. They were all members of the Vikings, but were into armed robbery and kidnapping. Henderson was always having money on him and whenever I was broke, I usually go to him for support. It was on one of the occasions I went to him, that he asked me to join the gang. I accepted and one of the first operations I went with him was in August 2020. Henderson was arrested and I escaped to Imo State.”

He said that Henderson was charged to court and was still in prison. Rafael was in Imo State when the #EndSARS protest started. He returned to Aba, confident that because of the #EndSARS mayhem and attacks on policemen and police stations, police wouldn’t continue the hunt for him. But he was mistaken.

He said: “When the protest died down, I returned to Aba and then teamed up with Henderson’s men. We robbed a POS operator at Umugasi, in the Union Back area and collected N52, 000 from the operator. We also collected the POS machine. We were three people that went for that operation, and we used a tricycle and locally made guns. I got N20, 000 as my share.

Another suspect, Samuel 25, stated that he joined the gang because he needed money for his clearance in school. The Abia State Polytechnic graduate said that he joined Vikings confraternity in 2016. He said that it was Henderson that initiated him.

He said: “I later joined his robbery gang because I was looking for money to do my clearance in school. I can’t explain why Rafael killed the man because we met him outside and he didn’t put up any resistance. He cooperated with us. It was when we were about leaving that I heard a gunshot. I turned and saw the man lying in a pool of blood. We all decided not to rob again, but when we became financially down, Santiago suggested we should rob the woman at Ogbor Hill. When we went there, he shot and killed the woman. I knew we were in big trouble and I also knew the police would hunt for us. But before then, I was part of the group that robbed a POS operator at School Road, at Uke Hill Junction. We got N50, 000, but nobody was killed.”

Sunday Chibuike, 22, on his part, explained that he joined the gang because he lost his job after the #EndSARS protest. He joined the gang in January 2021 and had participated in the robbing of five POS operators and had made N55000 from the five operations.

He said: “It was Rafael who introduced me to the gang. The gang and I don’t have a gun, but Rafael has a gun. I used part of the money I made to help my mother to pay her house rent.”

Kalu, 23, a generator repairer, said that he only went on two operations with the gang. The first was an attack on a warehouse, where they stole clothes. He got N17, 000 as his share of the loot.

He said: “We went for another operation and this time, it was an attack on a POS operator. I got N8000 as my share. Nobody was killed in all the operations participated in. Rafael was the person who initiated me into Vikings and also lured me into the armed robbery.”