Police operatives attached
to the Federal Capital Territory Command Special Anti-Kidnaping Squad have
arrested five members of an armed robbery gang that robbed unsuspecting
passengers in their taxi.
The names of the suspects
are;
Ebuka Ezeanyido, 28;
Chidebe Okocha, 36; Chukwuma Amichie, 30; Augustine Agbo, 32; and Chinedu Obi,
25, were arrested following investigation into the disappearance of one Michael
Ibebuogu who was reported missing by members of his family.
Ibebuogu was said to have
left his brother’s house at Apo, Abuja for Suleja, Niger State on May 27, 2018
but never arrived at his destination.
The missing man’s phone was
however traced to one of the suspects who led detectives to arrest his
accomplices.
The FCT Commissioner of
Police, Sadiq Bello, who paraded the suspects in Abuja on Thursday, explained
that Okocha confessed that he hit Ibebuogu on his head with a hammer when he
tried to take control of their operational car from the driver.
“The suspects said they
abandoned his body under Apo Bridge. Efforts are ongoing to recover the remains
of the deceased. The operational car used by the gang, an army green Volkswagen
Passat Wagon, one hammer and phone of the deceased have been recovered as
exhibits,” Bello stated.
Ezeanyido, who said he was
a taxi driver before he joined the robbery gang said, “I and my friend, Okocha
came to Abuja, so we picked the man in our cab. When the man noticed that we
wanted to rob him, he started dragging the steering with the driver; so this
brother (Agbo) hit him on the shoulder with a hammer and we stopped the cab and
allowed him to go, but he was not dead when we left him.
Okocha claimed he was doing
business at Wuse market, Abuja but decided to join the robbery gang after he
had issues with some people.
Narrating how the gang
operated, he said that they usually robbed one person at a time in their taxi.
He said, “We usually pick a
passenger and while driving, the driver would ask him to put on his seatbelt
while magic finger (Agbo) would cleverly snatch the victim’s money or phone.
“So the man (Ibebuogu)
noticed what was happening and he attempted to take over the steering, I hit
him with a hammer on his shoulder and wrist, we stopped the cab and he
disembarked; we were surprised to hear that he died,” Okocha said.
Agbo who was responsible
for picking the victim’s pocket or bag claimed he joined the gang about three
months ago, adding that he had robbed only about four persons.
He said, “I just started
robbing about three months, I have robbed just three or four persons."
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