Posted by By Juliana Francis on
The two shocking robbery incidents at Alaba International Market, Ojo and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja last December have been traced to a 50-man robbery gang, one of whose member has confessed to the crime.
The two shocking robbery incidents at Alaba International Market, Ojo and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja last December have been traced to a 50-man robbery gang, one of whose member has confessed to the crime.
The police said it has arrested a member of the gang that unleashed mayhem on Alaba International market on December 13, 2006, robbing three banks and killing 12 persons.
The suspect, who was identified as Sunday Nwachukwu, also revealed that he and his gang were behind the robbery that took place at the Bureaux De Change at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on December 4, 2006 where they carted away several currencies worth over N150million.
His arrest, Daily Sun learnt, was made possible, when one of his brothers attempted to buy a battery for a camera he (Nwachukwu) stole during the robbery.
Police sources revealed that Nwachukwu's brother had gone to Alaba International market to look for the special battery that the camera uses.
One of the brothers, who was identified as Chukwuemeka Nnamani said he had given the camera to another of their brothers called Chibuzor to get the battery. He explained that when Chibuzor got to the market, he was told that only one shop sells that sort of camera. He walked straight into the shop, unaware that it was the same shop his elder brother, Nwachukwu had robbed the previous day. When he handed the camera over to the shop owner, the man fixed the battery and replayed some old pictures. Already suspecting the camera belonged to him, the shop owner became convinced when he saw some of the shots he had taken before. He immediately alerted the police. Nwachukwu was traced to a hotel at Isolo, where he had gone to lodge to celebrate the success of their different operations in various parts of Lagos metropolis.
Nwachukwu later told the police how on the fateful day, he and his gang had gone to a village in the Igando area of Lagos to pick their guns where they had hidden them. He recollected that they snatched a jeep and a Coaster bus along the way, telling the victims, that they wanted to use the vehicles to ' fight government."
In the Bureaux De Change incident, the suspect said he and his gang had arrived the area in a convoy of seven cars, blaring siren, raiding eight shops and breaking into five safes.
Security operatives attached to the Bureaux De Change, bolted when the bandits arrived at about 1am and started shooting into the air.
Nwachukwu had allegedly told the police that his gang stormed the Alaba international market, Ojo, at about 12am and operated till 5am. They were escaping in a coaster bus when they ran into a 911 bus filled with passengers. At the sight of the hefty looking men, shooting sporadically, the driver of the bus panicked. The bus was said to have somersaulted, killing many people.
The robbers were alleged to have, on the day, killed more than 16 persons as they shot sporadically into the air as they plotted their escape route.
Witnesses told Daily Sun that corpses that littered the streets after the bandits escaped were many.
The suspect's latest shocking revelation was when he told detectives that as they were escaping, four of their guns were buried at a bridge close to the Lagos State University, Ojo(LASU).
Detectives were said to have gone to the site, but when the area was finally dug, they didn't find guns as expected but a decomposing corpse. Nwachukwu explained that the body was that of one of their members, who was accidentally killed by friendly fire on the day they went to rob the Bureax De Change.
According to him, the bullet from their guns hit and wounded him. He later died on the way and was quickly buried by others. Nwachukwu said the four guns may have been taken by other fleeing members of the gang.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Nnamani said: 'I am not a robber. Sunday gave me the camera to give to our brother Chibuzor to buy battery. I didn't know he stole it."
But in spite of all these confessions, Nwachukwu still insisted that he was not a robber. He said: ' I am not a robber! I am only a driver. I usually drive the men to places of operation. I have only gone twice with them. The real leaders of the gang are Osita and Olisa. On the day we went for that Alaba International market operation, they gave me N40,000, a handset and the camera. Olisa is a professional robber. I don't know where he lives."
He also admitted to have been arrested once for robbery but was allowed to go scot-free by DPP when his case was taken to court. He has promised to assist the police in fishing out other members of the gang. Asked why he took to robbery, he said: 'Na devil!"