Please Forgive Us, We Went For Only Five Operations ─ Suspected Robbers

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested some suspected robbers who confessed to have gone on five operations in different parts of the state. Our correspondent learnt that the suspects; Benneth Kwum, Monday Obembe and Gbolahan Lawal; were rounded up by the police in the Seven-Up Ijora area of Lagos while they were attempting to sell a stolen vehicle.

The vehicle, which was snatched from the gang’s victim in the Bariga area, was a Toyota Camry 2010 model.

According to the police, the three suspects, who belonged to a six-man gang, had robbed their victim of money, laptops and wristwatches before escaping with his vehicle.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspects were, however, nabbed by operatives of the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad on December 17, 2014, while the vehicle was recovered.

Our correspondent gathered that two locally-made double-barrelled pistols and one single-mouth pistol were also recovered by the police from the gang.

The police said three other members of the gang were still being hunted.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 26-year-old Lawal, who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State, pleaded for mercy on behalf of the gang.

Lawal, said to be the gang leader, added that they had gone on only five operations.

He said,

“We snatched the vehicle from the house of our victim at about 1am. We also collected N30,000 from him. We have four guns which we normally use during our operations.

“I collected one of the guns from a cultist friend named Yusuf. I was working as a lotto agent in Ijora before I became a robber.
“I needed to take care of my siblings and that forced me into robbery. We have gone for only five operations. I hope we can still be forgiven.”
Obembe, 28, an indigene of Akure, Ondo State, said the gang was planning to sell the stolenvehicle for N350,000 before they were apprehended.
He said, “I was working as a plumber before I joined the gang. I knew Gbolahan (Lawal) as a street fighter in Ijora before I got close to him. I went out with them four times.”
Our correspondent gathered that the third suspect, 20-year-old Kwum, was an informant for the gang. Kwum said he was given N10,000 for every information he gave the gang.“My father is a Ghanaian, but my mother is from Ogbomoso, Oyo State. I live in Ilaje Street, Bariga. I am an informant for the gang. They usually gave me N10,000 for every tip I gave them,” he said. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said,

“They have confessed to many robberies in different parts of the state. Investigation continues on the matter.”