18th September, 2012
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, of the Lagos State Police Command, has smashed two robbery gangs who allegedly snatched posh cars and sold them across the border through their three.
SARS sources informed P.M.NEWS that the arrest of one of the suspects, Charles Emmanuel, 36, in Bariga, Lagos with a locally-made double barrel pistol, led to the arrest of the other suspect, 38-year old Seyi Olayinka on 16 August at his residence at Railway Line, Alagbado Oja, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
It was learnt that the two suspects and their leader, Adewale Adegoke, now detained at Ikoyi Prison for another operation, were declared wanted by SARS after they robbed Tunde Hamed of his Toyota Camry with Lagos registration number CB 987 AGL along with a blackberry phone worth N68,000, Nokia phone valued N8,000, international passport and other documents at Alakuko, Lagos.
In his confessional statement, Seyi Olatunji, who allegedly drove most of the stolen vehicles from Lagos to Cotonou, confirmed that he was an ex-convict who served his jail term at Kirikiri Prisons between 2009 and 2010 for snatching a Toyota Avensis car.
He confessed that after his release, he joined the gang during an operation where they snatched a Toyota Camry at about 8 p.m. in Alakuko, Lagos.
The armourer of the gang, Charles Emmanuel, from Imo State, southeast Nigeria, said that the increase his shop rent where he worked as an interior decoration forced him into robbery. He said Adewale introduced him to the gang.
One of the buyers of the vehicles stolen by the gang, Sunday Anise, 38, claimed he was a smuggler at Seme Border but needed a car which made him pay N150,000 for the stolen Toyota Camry.
He added that he abandoned the car at toll gage in Seme Border when the car was tracked through a security device.
Another buyer, Femi Jacobs, confessed he bought each car from the gang for N500,000 and sold them for N600,000 or more.
He confessed to have bought the Toyota Camry, Sienna, RAV 4 SUV and a CRV he sold for N650,000 each.
Amosu Abidemi, 33, claimed he stopped working with the gang when they failed to give another car after he failed to deliver an initial assignment to give a car to Femi Jacobs in Abuja.
In a related development, two robbery suspects who specialise in snatching posh cars have been arrested by the SARS.
The two suspects were arrested in Ifo area of Ogun State, southwest Nigeria after the gang had snatched a RAV 4 SUV car with registration number Lagos SKP 471 AA at Osapa London in Ajah area of Lagos, southwest Nigeria recently.
SARS sources informed P.M.NEWS that it got wind of an attempt to sell the car and it was recovered in the process.
The suspects, Benjamin Akeize, 26, and Friday Agbalagba, during interrogation, allegedly confessed they sold the car to Eneh Evaristos, 27, before they were arrested.
—Ayodeji Dedeigbo & Daniel Ogunjobi