We went into robbery to start up restaurant, suspects confess
• How I initiated five kids into secret cult in Enugu, man tells police
Two former dispatch riders with an online trading platform have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State police command while attempting to rob an Uber driver of his vehicle in Anthony Village area of the state.
The two suspects: Sule Abdulkareem, aged 29 and Celestine Joseph, both confessed to attempting to rob the driver, claiming they had wanted to use the vehicle as collateral for a loan to start up a business.
The suspects were arrested by SARS operatives at Anthony-Oke area of the state when they were looking for a more deserted part of the area to launch an attack on the driver.
It was gathered that the two suspects had initially attempted to rob the driver at Anthony Bus Stop, but the driver, sensing danger, drove to the point where they were intercepted by the SARS operatives.
A source at Lagos SARS said the robbers were looking for a deserted place to carry out the operation when SARS operatives intercepted them. “They had wanted to rob the driver of the vehicle at Anthony Bus Stop, but the driver did not stop,” the source said.
One of the suspects, Abulkareem said: “It was an unfortunate incident. We initially wanted to rob him, but when he did not stop, we had to jettison the idea before we were arrested by the police. My friend, Celestine needed N1.6 million to start up a business and we looked everywhere for loan, but there was nobody to give us.
“It was while we were looking for loan that somebody told us that we would need collateral to get a loan. We had wanted to use that Toyota Corolla as our collateral to get the money. Unfortunately, we were unable to rob the driver of his car.
“I met Celestine when we were both dispatch riders at Jumia. We were very close then. I left because the company was deducting illegal money from my salary, even after I had paid fully for the motorcycle that was given to me. When my friend left, he told me he wanted to start up a restaurant and bar business on the island and that he needed N1.6 million for the business. We both agreed to rob the driver. It was an unfortunate incident.”
The other suspect, Joseph, said “the gun that was recovered from us belonged to one of our friends. He is no more in Lagos. We were using it to protect ourselves from hoodlums in Apapa when we were working there.
“I ordered for the Uber vehicle to come and pick us from Keffi in Obalende to Maryland. We planned to snatch the vehicle from him before he would get to Maryland, but we wanted to stop him at Anthony Bus Stop, he refused. Maybe he was afraid that the place was deserted.”
The Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, while speaking on the arrest of the suspects, reiterated the commitment of the police in the state to rid Lagos of criminals and other vices.
MEANWHILE, a 20-year-old suspected cultist, Somtochukwu Onyebuchi, at the weekend, confessed to initiating about five under-aged children into secret cult group in Anambra State.
The suspect, a barber from Ire village, Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, was among the 103 suspects paraded by the police. He blamed his actions on the devil, warning others still in the business to quit to avert being caught. He said: “I have been a member of the JVC since 2015 and I have initiated about five under-aged children. I have a way of convincing them to join willingly.
“I regret engaging in the act because I can’t even boast of what I have benefitted since I joined. I advise other members to come out so they won’t be caught.” The police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, said the suspect had been on the police wanted list. He said: “The suspect was arrested at about 5:00a.m. by operatives attached to the command’s special anti-cult unit following a tip off.”
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