Robbery is more lucrative than salary work. Suspect

Sikiru Oyebamiji and Afeez Salami, who were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for armed robbery, confessed that robbing people was more profitable than their legal job.

They were  Mushin area of Lagos  and were found with a locally-made pistol.

They were nabbed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad on Friday, July 31, around 12.30am when they were allegedly heading for an operation.

It was further gathered that the duo had taken a cab from Oshodi, and the vehicle had got to a checkpoint around Mushin where SARS operatives asked the occupants to alight.

The suspects were said to have ordered the driver to evade the policemen, threatening to shoot him if he refused.

But the operatives arrested the suspects and recovered the pistol from them.

After their arrest, the suspects confessed that they were nine in the gang. They also told the police that there were two other locally-made guns belonging to the gang.

The suspects said that they had taken to robbery because their respective jobs were not lucrative enough.

Twenty-four-year-old Oyebamiji who hails from Apomu Ikire, Osun State, said he was a cobbler and bus conductor before he joined the gang.

He said, “I was formerly a bus conductor, and a cobbler, before joining the gang. I sold Indian hemp too. I met the gang leader at a night club, and he advised me to be a part of them. We are actually nine in the gang. In most of the operations, we stole phones, gold, laptops, jewellery, and money. I did not like robbery, but I had no option because my work did not give me enough money.”

Oyebamiji, who lives on Lawanson Road, Itire, added that he had gone for about five operations with the gang, and made at least N20,000 from each.

He said, “I have gone out with the gang on about five occasions. We robbed in Sango, Ogun State; Egbeda, Ojuelegba and Pleasure Ile Epo areas in Lagos. We collected money and property in the process. I used the money from armed robbery to send my son to school. I realised about N20,000 from each operation.”

The second suspect, 21-year-old Salami also said he took to robbery because his work was not lucrative.

He said, “I was living in the Ojuelegba area, and I was a meat seller (butcher). But, meat selling was not bringing me much money. So, I joined the gang. We make use of three guns, but the two other guns are with the boss. I realised about N15,000 from each robbery operation. I am actually an orphan. Nobody was taking care of me.”

Two shoplifters Arrested in Onitsha, others on the run.

Two of a six-man syndicate who specialize in breaking peoples shops and looting their goods in Anambra and Ebonyi states have been arrested by a team of surveillance police attached to Fegge Police Station Onitsha, Alhambra state.

Vanguard reports that the two suspects whose names were withheld by the investigating police officers, IPOs, to avoid jeopardizing the arrest of other gang members who were not yet aware of the arrest of two of their accomplice, according to sources, were arrested on different dates, based on a tip-off.

According to the source, the surveillance team stumbled into 22 bags of 50 kilogrammes of foreign rice in a hideout at Onitsha and on enquiry, some of the neighbourhood informed them that they saw some men keeping the goods.

The police team, it was learnt, laid an ambush and as soon as one of the suspects sneaked into the hideout to carry some of the bags, probably for sale, they apprehended him and during interrogations, he disclosed the identities of the six-man gang, including their ring leader who was arrested the next day. It was further gathered that the police are still trailing four other members of the syndicate, even as they were not yet aware that two of their members are already in the police custody.

A reliable police source confirmed that the two suspects have made confessional statements as to how they had broken into and looted many shops, with the latest belonging to one Emmanuel Okonkwo at Obosi community near Onitsha which they allegedly broken into at about 3 a.m. and carted away the bags of rice through a dwarf fence.

The Divisional Police Officer at Fegge, Rabiu Garba who simply confirmed the arrest, said he had sent signal about the case to police headquarters, Awka, while investigations are on going.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Emeka Chukwuemeka, DSP, told newsmen on phone as a the time of filing this report that he was yet to receive such a signal to that effect, adding that he would make some contacts and get back to newsmen..

Shadrach Ofose to spend one in prison for illegal dealing in petroleum products

One Shedrach Ofose who was arraigned by EFCC for illegal dealing in petroleum products has been found guilty and sentenced to one year imprisonment by Justice M.S Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Warri, Delta State.

Justice Abubakar found him guilty of the 2-count charge preferred against him by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and sentenced him to 6 months jail imprisonment on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The court also ordered that the exhibit vehicles be auctioned and the proceeds remitted into the Federation Account.

The convict was arraigned March 5, 2013. One of the counts that sent Shedrack to jail reads; “that you Shedrack Ofose, on or about the 17th day of November, 2012 at Kaigbodo waterside in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court without appropriate licence did distribute Petroleum Product to wit: 3,950 litres of Automated Gas Oil (AGO) loaded in 10 drums conveyed in a White Ford Bus with Reg. No. (Bayelsa) XB 258 YEN and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 4(1) of the Petroleum Act CAP P10 of the Law of the Federation of Nigeria (Revised Edition) and punishable under Section 1(6) of the same act."