Posted by By JULIANA FRANCIS on
Detectives at the Sabo police division have held two cult members, who were part of a six-man robbery gang that stormed the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, and dispossessed several students of their valuables.
Detectives at the Sabo police division have held two cult members, who were part of a six-man robbery gang that stormed the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, and dispossessed several students of their valuables.
The six men, identified as undergraduates of the University of Lagos, Ebonyi State University and the Lagos State University, Ojo, were said to have stormed the Mechanical Engineering block of UNILAG, wielding cutlasses, axes and guns.
They allegedly made away with several laptops, money and handsets. Four of the men were able to escape but two were later smoked out from their hiding places. The two were Godwin Benson, 20 and Ayo Alabi, 22.
Both men revealed that they belonged to the Vikings Fraternities. While Alabi is a 400 level student of Biology, Godwin is not even a student. According to him, he sells C.D. Also in the police net is Godwin's step-mother, Mrs Grace Benson.
Detectives believe the suspects must have been planning the robbery for a long time following Godwin's account of the event of August 22 night.
Before they attacked the students that night, Godwin explained that Alabi called and told him to make his elder sister's Audi car available for that day. He insisted that Alabi only told him they were going for "runs" at UNILAG.
Godwin, who had duplicated the car key last year, secretly removed it from where it was parked in front of their house.
He said: "I removed the car at about 8 p.m. When we got to UNILAG, four other men joined us. The time was about 11 pm.. They asked me to wait inside the car. Later, I saw them rushing back. They had about six laptops. They rushed into the car and ordered me to drive off. I heard people shouting, help! help! I was confused and stopped the car when we got to access road. We all ran in different directions. I saw those men with axes and cutlasses. We hid in the school until daybreak."
When it was dawn, Godwin realized he had bitten more than he could chew, and ran to Ogun State. Meanwhile, his step-mother had gone to Ohaso police station, Mushin, to report about the missing car.
Detectives at Sabo had already started investigating the robbery when they received a signal of a missing car, fitting the description and registration number of the recovered one. Based on the information, police went to Sango and stormed Godwin's hide-out by 2 am.
Alabi said in the confusion of trying to escape from the Mechanical Engineering block, his colleagues abandoned him and fled in the Audi car.
He later met with the men after they called him on their mobile phone. He revealed that he saw them with axes and locally made guns. He told Daily Sun that when he met them at access road, he saw them with bags containing laptops.
He claimed the four men, identified as Apache, Biola, Biggie and Dante didn't tell him they were going for robbery. Rather, he claimed they told him they were going to strike at some members of Buccaneer that had stepped on their toes.
Aware that he was in deep trouble water, Alabi, who lived on campus, decided to move to his father's house at Mushin.
When police came for him, he attempted to jump the fence but was pursued by policemen, who dragged him down.
Detectives are still investigating Grace because Godwin had alleged that she knew about his removing the car but the woman had denied the allegation.
According to her, she came out on Friday only to discover that the car was missing. She claimed to have been puzzled because the keys and particulars were with her.
Alabi, who told Daily Sun that he joined cult because of intimidation from other students, added: "I am not from a useless family. Right now, I am a total disgrace to my family. I wish I could go back into my mother's womb and be born again to start life all over."
A manhunt has started for the fleeing four men.