Chiemelie Ezeobi
Operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two armed robbers in two separate incidents in Ikotun and Olodi – Apapa areas of the state.
This is just as it recovered a gun they had used for the operation as well as some jewellery, laptop and 18 mobile phones from the armed robbers.
While 22-year-old Bashir Wasiu, an Oyo State indigene, was arrested at Olodi-Apapa, the other suspect, 23-year-old Tunde Adedeji from Abeokuta, Ogun State, was arrested at Ikotun.
Bashir had, in company of his two other gang members, waylaid their victim, one Viho Segun, at his residence and made away with his documents, phones and N15,000 from him at gun-point before leading him to collect more valuables from his family.
At Viho’s flat, Bashir threatened to kill him in the presence of his children and wife if they failed to produce more valuables.
When the wife refused to surrender what they wanted, Bashir smashed Viho’s head with the gun butt and beat the wife to a pulp.
According to the victim, “When he started beating my wife, I summoned courage to engage him. As soon as we started fighting, his colleagues took to their heels.
“He too tried to run but I held him and I called out to neighbours, seized his gun and just at the nick of time, RRS officers on patrol arrived and they arrested him.”
In his confession, the suspect said, “We have been monitoring Viho. We know he goes to work early in his car and we decided to ambush him.
“We were three; Michael and I followed him into his flat to collect more money while Joseph was monitoring the situation outside.
The three of us met at a point near Boundary in Ajegunle. That is where we plan and set out for our operations. We operate early in the morning and late evening.”
Meanwhile, Adedeji, the suspect who was arrested at Ikotun confessed that his 10-man gang had invaded Muslim and Omotayo Streets, where they robbed all the occupants of the three buildings they targeted.
Over 25 robbery victims residing in the three buildings narrated their ordeals in the hands of the 10–man robbery gang when they besieged RRS headquarters in Alausa after reports filtered to them that the security officials had arrested one of the robbery suspects.
Most of the robbery victims sustained several matchete cuts in the head and body.
The robbery victims, who came to Alausa in three fully loaded commercial buses, were invited one after the other to identify the suspect and also identify their belongings from the 18 mobile phones, trinkets and assorted jewellery, recovered from the back-pack of the suspect.
MORE DETAILS LATER
