Amuka’s security guards masterminded robbery operation, suspects confess

The suspected armed robbers that attacked Vanguard Newspaper’s publisher, Sam Amuka, popularly called Uncle Sam, on Thursday said his security guards, Mohammed and Gambo masterminded the operation.

Musa Abubakar, Abdulrazaq Hassan and Umaru Oseni, the gang’s driver, all Chadians, were paraded at the Lagos State police command headquarters yesterday.

They were arrested at different areas of the state for their alleged involvement in the armed robbery operation that took place in the wee hours of June 5 at Amuka’s Anthony Village residence.

Although the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects at gunpoint dispossessed Amuka of foreign currencies and Naira running into millions, the suspects claimed that only N200,000 was collected from their victim.

According to them, two of the publisher’s security men had hinted them that he had foreign currencies at home and planned the attack. They claimed that their two accomplices were on duty on the night of the attack and advised them to tie them down, but not very hard.

Abubakar, who told The Guardian he collected two pieces of a currency that was reddish, adding that the money was N17,000 when they changed it. “It was Mohammed that contacted me for the operation. During our interaction, Mohammed told me that it was one Gambo who has the contact of the house we were going to rob.

“Mohammed said Gambo had assured him that they are not going to encounter any problem during the operation, since the security men attached to the house were in the know of the attack. On the day of the operation, we stormed the house around 3.00a.m. On arrival, we met the gate to the house open. The security men were already expecting us. We had no difficulty accessing the place.

“The two security men on duty advised us to tie them down, but not too hard. We entered the main house through the ceiling. We met only the owner of the house at home sleeping in one of the rooms upstairs. I stayed downstairs while Hassan and Musa went upstairs.

“As I ransacked the cabinet in the seating room, I saw two pieces of foreign currency on the floor. I did not know which currency it was, but it was not Naira. I saw only two pieces. We changed it and it was N17,000. What I got as my share was N70,000 and a wristwatch. The total money we made was N200,000.”

Oseni, 42, who said he was a security guard at FESTAC Town, claimed that same Mohammed contacted him for the robbery. “I was the one who broke the man’s drawer and saw newspapers inside. When I could not see any money, we went back and the man was the one who gave us N200,000 in an envelope.

“It was Musa who hit the man with sledge hammer and when I saw that he was bleeding, I told him to leave the old man alone because he had given us money.”