Robbery Gang Of Former Soldiers Smashed

The Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, of the Lagos State Police Command has smashed a four-man robbery gang of dismissed soldiers in Lagos.

The suspects, Paul Efiong, 26, Sunday Ola, 30, Benedict Onche, 41 and Julius Onojie, 33 were arrested along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway wearing army uniforms.

SARS operatives told P.M.NEWS that the gang specialises in attacking oil tankers and trailers conveying goods along the expressway.

Investigations revealed further that men of SARS had been investigating the activities of the gang for a long time following complaints from owners of goods and tanker drivers attacked along the expresssway.

One of the suspects, Paul Effiong who resides at 17, Masaku Street, Oshodi, Lagos told P.M.NEWS that they were all dismissed soldiers and that they took to hijacking trailers of goods and oil tankers on the expressway in order to feed themselves and their families.

He disclosed that the gang attacked a trailer carrying cement and ordered the driver to come down. They later offloaded the cement at their hideout in Sango, Ogun State and sold to a buyer.

“We don’t carry guns. We operate by deceiving people with our uniforms. Our first operation was successful but the one that led to my arrest was my second time,” he stated.

Another suspect, Sunday Ola who resides at 52, Adealu Street, Egbeda, Lagos disclosed that he was dismissed from the Army in 2007 and that he was given N100,000 in their first operation. “I  was arrested during the second operation and taken to SARS,” he disclosed.

Members of the gang also confessed selling some of the trucks hijacked for N1.2 million each.

Julius Onojie,  a dismissed corporal who claimed that he spent 13 years in the Army and lives at 33, Rasaq Abbas Street, Akute, Ajuwon revealed that he joined the Nigerian Army in 1996 and was dismissed in 2008. “I was dismissed because I was absent for two years,” he disclosed.

The suspect confessed that the gang had so far attacked four trucks carrying 33,000 litres and trailers carrying goods.

— Ayodeji Dedeigbo